New Movie Update: Sinners 2025

[Shekinah Brama]

What people are saying about it

1. I know there’s plenty of posts about this movie, good and bad reviews but here’s mine.

   SINNERS is so GOD DAMN GOOD. I don’t get hyped for movies anymore, funnily enough, b/c of a little Ryan Coogler (director of this film) movie called Black Panther. The trailers made it look so awesome and action-packed and then, in my opinion, it was a mostly slow talkfest. A great cast no doubt but it didn’t work for me as a superhero flick. So after that I was like nah I’m not gettin too excited before putting my own eyes on the whole thing now. Obviously Sinners is the most popular and most critically acclaimed movie out right now, and I did think it looked good. The trailer caught me off guard with vampires and I said to my neph “Wow, I was not expecting vampires”. I like vampires and any new or interesting take on the lore.

   Well the hype is warranted for this one. The whole movie is a vibe and even feels almost surreal and it’s filled with great music throughout. The “music through the ages” scene in the middle actually moved me emotionally, as did other parts of the film. The acting and cinematography are incredible and I thought the story itself is a pretty unique take on the subject matter. The coda during the end credits was greatly satisfying as well.

   I’ve seen a few bad reviews and I just cannot fathom those opinions. I loved it. Fuckin loved it.

   

2. I think this will be an unpopular opinion. I thought sinners was fun and jam packed with interesting ideas and was entertaining throughout. I also can sort of understand someone loving the movie.

   That being said, I think the movie is also messy with perhaps too many ideas crammed in and an inconsistent tone throughout its run time. I also found the dialogue writing, aside from some very moving moments from the old musician, pretty run of the mill or even cheap. As a result, it didn’t really connect with me emotionally. There was also SO much going on that it feels like the perfect movie to be the subject of years of film analysis but more so for its themes than its execution.

   I thought it worked brilliantly on a symbolic level. The visualization of cultural appropriation and metaphor of vampirism and the tragic reality that these black folks would have a better chance against vampires than the system designed to keep them down is all very well executed, very well thought out and in dialogue with our times. Even the cunninlngus theme throughout seems to be in dialogue with the culture. It’s just that the surface plot is too messy to make this movie a true “masterpiece”.

   If I may draw a parallel with another incredibly original work with some similar themes, “Get Out”. This movie I consider to be a true masterpiece. Not only is the metaphor crisp and clear and haunting and damning. it is perfectly mirrored by the surface story which is, on its own and without the benefit of the metaphor, a tight, well told gripping story with hilarious and tension filled dialogue. In addition, it is in conversation with film narratives as well, being as much an innovation to horror as much as it is a commentary.

   I know it’s a small point of contention but Sinners does not feel like a true masterpiece but a wildly entertaining cult classic with execution issues.

3. 
4. I also had problems with this movie but mostly because it was heralded as the next great film which I think oversells it. I agree with you about the performances but I think this is a misreading of the symbolism.

   It’s not about white or black, it’s about cultural appropriation and cultural contribution and cultural assimilation and the impact that has through time. For me, this was the best/most clever part of the symbolic story being told but then it was clouded with all these other themes that were extraneous and unnecessary, the oral sex themes and the lost baby story and as a result the final product just a bit of a mess. Still very entertaining but a bit messy.

   As for the portrayal of white people, yes in this story the white people are the bad guys for the most part. But we learn the main vampire is also a victim of cultural assimilation and it’s not about skin color. If you tell a story about African Americans in the southern US in the 30s, odds are you’re going to have some white bad guys, there’s no way around that unless you include some token white people to be nice like Brad Pitt in twelve years a slave but that doesn’t help the movie and I’d argue would just be more mess.

   It was also cheesy in a way that cult classics can be but not masterpieces – the dialogue was much closer to a blockbuster than a classic

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