In SINNERS (2025), two Black men return to rural Mississippi after serving in the First World War and a stint working for Al Capone in Chicago, hoping to open a juke joint for the local Black community only to run afoul not only with the KKK but an infestation of vampires. The result bursts at the seams, can be pretty messy, but is ultimately a really good time.
Smoke and Stack (twins played by Michael B. Jordan) spend quite a bit of time pulling together the people they need to open their establishment while reuniting with those they left behind. Among them are past loves (Hailee Steinfeld and Wunmi Mosaku), a veteran blues musician (Delroy Lindo, one of my favorite actors), and upcoming blues prodigy Sammie (Miles Caton). Smoke and Stack are haunted men, real sinners, and they hope to see Sammie mature and find his own way in the world while also taking steps to protect his innocence so he doesn’t follow the same dark path as them. The men open their joint and throw an amazing party, but Sammie’s music catches the interest of a passing vampire and all hell breaks loose.
The movie is about a lot of things and is trying to be a lot of things, but that’s fine, I was enjoying it for its Southern Gothic feel and great cinematography, but once the vampires show up, the movie takes off. Jack O’Connell steals the show as Remmick, the Irish vampire who sees his kind as full of communal love and beyond racism. He also absorbs the memories of everyone he turns, which is why he wants to invade the juke joint so badly–he falls in love with Sammie’s music and wants his stories. A lot of whether a vampire movie today really works, at least for me, is in how the vampire is handled, and I loved this portrayal of a cheerful but very hungry and lonesome cult.
Did I mention this movie is trying to be a lot of things? One of them is a musical, with several songs, two of which are amazing set pieces that made me wish I’d seen SINNERS in the theater. In one, Sammie’s playing transcends time and space to draw dancers and musicians from across history, and in another, the grinning vampires jam to an Irish folk song while Remmick jigs. These scenes are surprising and elevate the story even while it relies on familiar tropes like stakes and garlic, creating something new.
Overall, all the disparate elements in SINNERS didn’t quite come together perfectly for me, but they came together well enough, and where it worked for me it shined. In short, I loved it and would recommend it.
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