I Watched Sinners (2025)
Sinners (2025), directed by Ryan Coogler, is a richly realised period piece which revels in the themes of vampire horror and digs deep into its setting in the 1932 Mississippi Delta. My enjoyment of this film was unfortunately hampered by my preconceptions of it: I watched Sinners believing it was set in the modern day, and I spent at least the first third of the film wondering when the historical prologue was going to end. After finishing it, my opinion of the film was still very much coloured by my confusion over the setting. My one-sentence review immediately post-viewing was approximately “That was very well done, I’m not sure why I didn’t enjoy it.”
Looking back on Sinners after a few days, I can now recognise how well it ties together the inherent themes of vampire horror, its exploration of race relations in Jim Crow America, and the enduring cultural relationship between Christianity and blues music. The thematic coherence of its plot, setting and soundtrack are well-matched by its stunning visuals. Despite the chopping and changing of the aspect ratio, Autumn Durald Arkapaw’s cinematography is consistently beautiful, capturing the landscapes of the Mississippi Delta with gorgeous clarity.
Sinners is a film that I hope I can enjoy as much as others seem to have done once I give it a second viewing in a few years. If you have not yet seen it, I heartily recommend giving it a try, and you only need be armed with the knowledge that I wasn’t: it’s set in the 1930s!