In what can only be described as a contradiction in terms, the Ryan Coogler written and directed horror film Sinners makes you a believer — not in the horror genre, the occult or the supernatural, but in cinema.

Set in Clarksdale, Mississippi in 1932, Sinners sees identical twin brothers and World War I veterans Smoke and Stack (Michael B. Jordan, Coogler’s regular star) return home after a stint for the Chicago Outfit (another name for the Mob/ American Mafia/ organised crime).

Purchasing a sawmill from a racist landowner with the mob’s money and turning it into a juke joint — an African-American term for an informal establishment featuring music, dancing, gambling and drinking — they want to create a haven of enjoyment amid the Great Depression’s hardships. The two are joined by their cousin Sammie (Miles Caton), a gifted blues guitarist and a ragtag crew, including a cook, singer, pianist and immigrant suppliers.

Their effort, though, is shadowed by dire warnings: Sammie’s preacher father decries blues music as “devil’s work” while an Irish vampire, Remmick (Jack O’Connell), flees indigenous hunters and sows chaos by turning people into undead allies.

Writer and director Ryan Coogler’s Sinners easily slides into the year’s most engaging entries

Ignore how the last part reads — on paper it may well sound like a campy vampire movie set in the African-American pre-rights days of the past — or how the poster looks like. Just see the film.

Notice how I don’t get into the nitty-gritties of the plot here or the context; there are a few interesting things to notice here, which I’ll save for those who want to experience the film in cinemas.

However, Coogler — him I can talk about.

I had never been a fan of Coogler for his career–making films Black Panther and Creed. Here, he has finally made this reviewer take notice. Not only is his premise entertaining, it is entertaining because of its able-handed, semi-cliched yet sincere approach in storytelling.

It is not a horror film per se — and its stereotypical use of blues-singers-from-old-South-making-deals-with-devil trope has been done time and again. Its texture, the sure-handed, clear-headed, focused pacing and direction makes the experience unique and original.

For a vampire film — a subgenre of horror that has never been the stuff of nightmare for viewers (unless one counts how campy and bad they usually turn out) — Sinners quietly raises the bar to the time when these stories had real potential (re: Interview with the Vampire).

Coupled with Michael B. Jordan’s performance as the twin brothers — a very handsome man who finally shows his acting skills — Sinners becomes that one film that easily slides into the year’s most engaging entries. No wonder Warner Bros had to do a bidding war to secure distribution and production rights from Coogler.

Starring Michael B. Jordan, Hailee Steinfeld, Miles Caton, Jack O’Connell, Wunmi Mosaku, Jayme Lawson, Omar Miller and Delroy Lindo, Sinners is released by HKC in Pakistan, and rated A for adult scenes — but then again, it wasn’t made for kiddies anyways

Published in Dawn, ICON, May 4th, 2025