Written by Simran Kaur, Staff Writer
How has this movie proven its worth? How well will it fare in the Oscars? Read on to find out.
With the end of the oscars and the fallout of the awards season the focus on film and media this year has evidently shifted from the previous years. One most notable and impactful movie has captured the attention of millions of people globally is the film “Sinners” (2025) directed by Ryan Coogler starring both old and new faces like: Micheal B Jordan, Hailee Steinfield, Wunmi Mosaku, Miles Caton, and Jack O’Connell. The grip and cultural influence this film has clearly made on the masses and the imprint it has left on what we consider a great memorable film to be has forever been changed by “Sinners”.
“Sinners” discusses themessages and ideas that spark conversations and controversy in a fresh and unfamiliar way while also displaying its ability to capture the beauty and flawed age of 1932 Mississppi, most famously remembered as the Jim Crow era. With its roots in Black American culture and struggle “Sinners” not only shapes how we view this period of time but it is so much more than simply a vampire-esque slasher inspired film. Rather it takes this metaphor and redirects it into showing viewers the reality of this time period and the consequences that are still in effect today.
“Sinners” (2025) has immediately taken off since its release to theaters on April 18, 2025, so with it almost being a year since the movies debut the question to those few who have not since watched it is what is “Sinners” about?
To sum it up “Sinners” is a film about two twin brothers famously known among this town as Smoke and Stack who in attempt to escape their criminal past move back to the Jim Crow south to start a new life, however instead of finding peace they must survive an ancient being that haunts their old tow
Not only was this idea and plot something that truly is original but it was also what most consider a breath of fresh air. Recently many claim and believe that Hollywood has simply run out of new ideas with the same actors, concepts, and even general storylines continue to be shown over and over and over again.
Many famously “joke” that they “are tired of seeing the same five actors on their screen”. However this is not just about the actors this is also about the films themselves, the revival of renewing films to make sequels and reboots has had an ultimate rise these past 5 years where instead of developing new ideas Hollywood is simply reusing old ones to capture the attention of viewers with something they consider familiar and close to heart, and guarantee their viewership rather than risk putting a new fresh film on screen with the chance of lower viewership and a potential flop.
When it comes to “Sinners” the reason why all who claim to love it truly do is because it was and arguably hasn’t still been seen before. The film used vampires as a metaphor for colonization and racism utilizing such a known character (the vampire) and shifting its entire purpose (to suck blood) to successfully push forth how America has and still does suck the culture from its colored communities and brands it as their own while excluding the people that gave them that culture.
The character Remmick played by Jack O’Connel, the antagonist of the film is the embodiment of this idea being the ancient vampire that plagues the protagonist for the majority of the film slowly taking each character and turning them towards him and against their own. Remmick stands as the concept of overtaking and controlling all those to convert them into what he is to sustain his life in doing so, stripping them of their lives.
It is such a carefully thought out interpretation of such a harsh reality. The film’s setting being in the south and during the Jim Crow era, where segregation towards colored communities but mostly the Black community was at its most extreme effect, to not only include this creature that stands to take over and strip this community of their music which is essentially their voice and how they communicate struggle and a want for freedom but also actively include characters that are apart of the KKK, notorious for their extreme white supremacy and violent racism.
For context music during this time specifically was known as the blues, music created by African Americans in the deep south that embodied hardship and resilience with its emergence from spirituals, work songs, and field hollers. Music being such a pivotal part of the film, with the release of an entire album alongside with the movie that presents a modern take and tribute to the blues to have it be the representation of struggle as a product of segregation and its entire being in the film is to take it over and instead of embrace its roots like we see done through Sammie Moore’s character played by Miles Caton its attempt to be covered and taken from its origins by Remmick.
“Sinners” is not just an Oscar award winning movie it a cultural phenomenon that has forever changed what an award winning film should be, one that is based on an understanding of not feeding into the tone deaf ideals that Hollywood presents to the masses but actively presenting groups of people and their struggles that they have faced and still face today. It is avoiding ignorance and instead choosing to be educated and involved in the change.