Sinners

Set in 1932 in Clarksdale, Mississippi, Sinners takes place throughout one night in the middle of October. Sammie Moore (the feature film debut of Miles Caton) is at a crossroads in his life. He is torn between being the son of a preacher and the blues-driven nightlife where he gets to sing, play guitar, and feel alive. Sammie submerges himself in the blues seemingly having little desire to return to his familys religious roots.

Sammies twin cousins Smoke and Stack (both played by Michael B. Jordan) have just returned home after spending seven years in Chicago. With a mobster-like reputation, the twins intend to jumpstart a new jukejoint at an old sawmill previously owned by Klan members. However, they want the grand opening to be that v...

FULL SPOILER-FREE REVIEW @ https://www.firstshowing.net/2025/review-sinners-is-one-of-this-years-most-daring-ambitious-films/

"Sinners is living proof that major studios can still produce artistic, provocative, and emotionally resonant movies.

With Ryan Coogler's confident and creatively daring direction, an unforgettable, award-worthy score, a strong ensemble cast, and a thematically rich exploration of racial oppression, cultural identity, and spirituality, this is undoubtedly one of the most impactful films of the year so far.

An intense, memorable spectacle with a sharp social commentary - and one that demands to be seen on the biggest screen possible."

Rating: A-

Its always gratifying to see a filmmaker take a big step up in his or her career, and thats precisely what writer-director Ryan Coogler has done in his latest offering, a project that reflects a significant jump in the depth, artistry and sophistication of his creative output. Coming on the heels of his successes in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022), Creed (2015) and Fruitvale Station (2013), Coogler has hit a home run with this period piece smart horror story about identical twin brothers (both played by Michael B. Jordan) who return to their Mississippi home in 1932 after years of working for Al Capone in Chicago, where they made huge money that they now plan to use to open their own juke joint in a converted sawmill. Its an opportuni...

'Sinners' is a fair load of fun. It admittedly didn't fully knock my socks off, but there isn't any doubt that it is a very good film. It's stylish with impressive music and visuals, whilst all of the acting talent give good performances. It's paced astutely too.

Michael B. Jordan is as entertaining as he usually tends to be, I do like seeing him act. The dual role is done well here, the 'split screen' is solid but my brain sillily - no matter the movie or standard of how they portray the same actor twice - simply cannot interpret the effect as seamless.

Jack O'Connell stands out behind Jordan, particularly for the moments of sing. Hailee Steinfeld and Wunmi Mosaku are the others that I took notice of too, same can be said for Delroy ...

I don't think I liked it as much as most people seem to, and definitely not as much as the critics, but think this movie nailed about 85% of what it tried to.

The setting, music, costumes, makeup, gore, and effects were exceedingly well done. The film is well-acted (Delroy Lindo was the standout) and it was definitely worth seeing in the theatre.

My only complaints are that the ending felt rushed, there are a couple of oddly out of place surrealist sequences, and the villain was weak. It's a fairly long film already, but I think it would have been better if we'd gotten to see another 10 minutes of the interaction between the villain and his initial pursuers, and a few flashbacks would have been helpful.

I also think this story wo...

Sinners started off similar to a gritty drama in the Deep South, every character felt so built and I was fully invested. Then the vampire elements started twirling in. That first fade into the moon, the guitar riff, unbelievably hard Mr. Coogler. It gave a feeling I havent felt since watching dune 2. Oh and the scene where we go through the history and future of music, best scene of the decade maybe? That juke joint was heaven for clarksville that night, a place where people could finally let loose and forget about all their work to enjoy powerful music, rooted in their ancestry. I ascended to heaven, and Im not coming back down.

Under here is a review I wrote in a discord server you dont need to read it its pretty basic:

Sinners...

Michael B. Jordan is Smoke and twin brother Stack in this classy drama of a pair whove lived on the wrong side of the tracks for most of their lives, but have determined to go home and try to go straight. To that end, they buy an old barn and hope to set up their own speakeasy - with only a nominal nod to prohibition - pumping to the rafters with dancing and blues music. On the way, they ally with talented musician Sammie (Miles Caton) and, of course, theres a bit of baggage for the siblings as they return to a town thats not altogether welcoming. Once home, a mixture of confidence, threats and collective charisma succeeds in assembling a crowd for their opening night. Pretty swiftly, though, that grand celebration attracts the attention of...

It's a vampire movie. They really hate White people. Sick of this proud to be racist crap.

Full disclosure, I've been to Clarksdale and it is the best. This film is like Morgan Freeman's juke joint. I liked the compact, intimate nature of Red's more.

Middle of this is draggy. Parties aren't that fun to watch. There are a lot of quick and intense action bits to wake up for but at the same time...it's long. Why do movies have to be so long? Why does the ending of this have to be even longer? Why did survival have to be so impossible as to remove all stakes? Just a big, bloated juke joint of a film.

But still. Killing klan members and vampires is fun. Great action bits. Fun use of traditions. Likeable characters.