Review: Sinners is Everything You Want And More

Sinners proves once again that Ryan Coogler can confront audiences with hard-to-ignore truths while still weaving a riveting story.

Set in 1932 Mississippi, the film follows twin brothers Smoke and Stack (Michael B. Jordan, in a precise dual performance) who return home after seven years with the Chicago Outfit. Using mob money, they buy land from a hostile landowner and open a juke joint meant to give their community a place of its own. That premise alone would fuel a compelling drama, yet Coogler goes further.

Cousin Sammie plays the blues as if channeling the dead; voodoo shadows every decision; and an Irish vampire named Remmick seeks to exploit Sammie’s music for darker ends. The mix of Southern Gothic and supernatural thriller sounds unlikely, but Coogler balances each element so that the larger conflict feels both mythic and grounded.

Jordan anchors the film with contrasting portraits of the disciplined Smoke and the more impulsive Stack. Hailee Steinfeld, Miles Caton, and Wunmi Mosaku supply memorable turns, though it is Mosaku’s quiet strength that often steadies the story.

Composer Ludwig Göransson delivers a soundtrack that does more than set the mood; it advances the narrative. During a climactic night in the juke joint, blues, R&B, rap, and country flow together, illustrating how one genre gives birth to the next. Even Remmick’s unexpected Celtic number underscores the film’s meditation on cultural exchange—and appropriation. Beneath the supernatural veneer lies a sober reflection on ownership: of land, of art, and of identity.

By framing those questions within a tale that moves from shotgun realism to folklore, Coogler reminds us that history’s ghosts still shape the present. Sinners is ambitious and sometimes unruly, yet its boldness is precisely what makes it memorable. Coogler blends period drama with horror and musical heritage to create a film that lingers well after the credits, asking viewers to reconsider who profits from culture and who pays the hidden cost.