Written by: Jase Marsiglia

Chicago gangsters Elijah “Smoke” and Elias “Stack” Moore (both played by Michael B. Jordan in a dual role that earned him an Academy Award) return to their small town of Clarksdale, Mississippi, with their ill-gotten gains to try and bring something back for their Black community. Looking to go legit, Smoke and Stack employ the help of a pair of Chinese shop owners ("Alma and the Wolf"’s Li Jun Li and Yao), their young cousin Sammie, who taught himself blues guitar (fantastic newcomer Miles Caston), a local field worker named Cornbread ("8 Mile"’s Omar Miller) as a bouncer, Smoke’s Hoodoo-practicing wife Annie ("Loki"’s Wunmi Mosaku) as a cook, and local harmonica player Delta Slim (the great Delroy Lindo) to open a juke joint in an old, abandoned sawmill.

Having purchased it in cash, their only rule to the former owner is that he doesn’t come around causing trouble, and if the Klan shows up, they’ll be shot dead on arrival. Having worked fast since morning, the club opens to the Black community, many thankful for a place to unwind and dance after a hard day in the fields. It’s so successful that the night transcends mere blues, blows the roof off, and opens a cultural doorway in a beautiful, dizzying scene representing the shockwave blues music had on culture through the decades.

But like most good things, the night at Club Juke is simply too good to be true. A sinister Irish folk singer named Remmick (Jack O'Connell) has drifted into town and reveals himself to be a vampire. Having already changed a couple of racist locals into vampires, they set their hungry sights on Club Juke’s patrons. With the property surrounded by glowing eyes and razor-sharp teeth, those on the inside must find a way to defend themselves while keeping the vampires at bay. But who among them may have already been turned? And more importantly, who among them possesses something valuable in their soul that Remmick will kill everyone to obtain?

Sinners (2025)
⭐⭐⭐⭐

On the surface, "Sinners" could easily be considered a permutation of "From Dusk Till Dawn" in that a group of people must hold the fort in an establishment against hordes of vampires. But writer-director Ryan Coogler, who so beautifully wove a tapestry of culture, pride, and a sense of community in 2018’s Marvel adventure "Black Panther", has created in "Sinners" a genre iceberg that gets richer the deeper down you go. Even if it were “just a vampire film,” Coogler harkens back to tropes that seem all but forgotten in vampire films today. Remember when a vampire couldn’t cross a threshold unless invited? Or that vanquishing the vampire who turned you could either free your soul from its grasp (or take you down with it)? Anyone else remember the potency of silver or garlic?

Coogler employs these classical tropes in a film already teeming with a rich history of Black community and influence. Of blues music that shaped everything from hip-hop to rock (hell, there’s even a churning metal track during the film’s finale). Of displaced cultures, both African and Irish, at the hands of whites and Christians, respectively. Of devils you find, like the Italian mafia, or the devils they knew, like the Southern Klan. With varying aspect ratios built for standard and IMAX screens, Coogler drives you through a tour of many things, both horrifying and moving, while touching on shots and moments horror fans will recognize from Stanley Kubrick to John Carpenter, all while earning an astounding sixteen Academy Award nominations and taking home four.

It’s violent, scary, and gruesome, and Coogler finds a way to make it all seductive and exciting. The blood. The sex. The sweat. The music. The pain. The night. The predatory eyes that peer hungrily from the darkness, and the tangerine-colored sky painted over the calm waters of a small creek. It’s beautiful and dangerous, like only the best vampire movies can be.

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Warner Bros. released "Sinners" on DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K UHD; however, only the Blu-ray and 4K UHD come with bonus features. All versions contain the film with its varying aspect ratios during key, larger-than-life IMAX moments.

Both the Blu-ray and 4K UHD come with the following bonus features:

• Dancing with the Devil: The Making of Sinners
• Blues in the Night: The Music of Sinners
• Thicker Than Blood: Becoming the Smokestack Twins
• Spirits of the Deep South
• Wages of Sin: The Creature FX of Sinners
• Deleted Scenes

A Limited Edition Steelbook was also released, which contains both 4K UHD and Blu-ray discs.

BITS ‘N’ PIECES

Traum-A-Meter:

3 out of 4. 

There’s plenty of bloodletting to be had the night Club Juke opened.

Today’s Jam: The weekend Sinners opened its juke joint, Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s “Luther” reached the top of the Billboard charts.

THIS EPISODE’S MORAL:
It’s always better to dance with the devil you know.