'Sinners' is One Hell of a Ride | Review

Ryan Coogler's original gothic vampire tale is the best movie of the year so far

Later this week, my esteemed writing partners and I sit down for a group chat on what movies, if any, are worthy of seeing so far in 2025. Spoiler alert: it’s been pretty dismal thus far.

We met before I watched Sinners, writer-director Ryan Coogler’s original Southern Gothic vampire flick. I wish I could go back and tell the Tyler of two weeks ago to hold on to any overly negative opinions of the moviegoing year so far. I wish I could say to him just wait a few more weeks. At a time when cinephiles want to lament that “it’s so over,” Sinners seductively tempts us to say those immortal words:

We are so back.

Because if rapturous reviews and a stellar opening weekend indicate anything it is that we are, indeed, so back.

A wholly original genre flick, Sinners follows a day in the lives of twin brothers (both played by Michael B. Jordan) who return to their hometown to start again by opening a Juke Joint for the local black community in the Mississippi Delta, only to be confronted by a supernatural evil.

Folks, I’ll keep this short and simple: Sinners is a cinematic jolt of adrenaline. It’s fiery and sensual and funny and creepy and deeply entertaining. Coogler, who has spent the last decade in franchise fare with his Rocky reboot Creed and the first two Black Panther movies, has cemented himself as one of the true bona fide American filmmakers working now. His relationship with Jordan, which has spanned every major film he’s made, is quickly becoming this generation’s DeNiro and Scorcese.

Every performer and craftsperson deserves high marks. Across the board, the company produces stellar work. Special shoutout to composer Ludwig Göransson, whose task in this film is incredibly high, editor Michael Shawver, and DP Autumn Durald Arkapaw for truly memorable work. Much like Oppenheimer two years ago, Coogler and company play with every analog tool in the sandbox. Damn digital, give me 60mm film stock all day, every day! The frames have tremendous depth and richness, the music is evocative, and the pacing is well done for a movie over two hours and ten minutes.

And then there’s… the scene. One that comes at basically the halfway point of the movie; a scene so bold and phantasmagorically beautiful and weird and singular, combining the best elements of all the crafts and actors that it might become the best movie scene of the year. It can’t say anymore but, much like the Supreme Court’s definition of porn, you’ll know it when you see it.

It’s all just so entertaining.

Maybe someday I’ll have more time to put my thoughts into words (it’s close to midnight as I write this), but for now, just watch the movie. It’s really good, it’s really well made, and it’s really what Hollywood needs right now.

Movies rock. Sinners reminds us that they still can.

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