Ryan Coogler's Sinners (2025) centers two twins, Smoke and Stack (Michael B.
Jordan), who return to their home in the Mississippi Delta after having worked
for the Mafia in Chicago, mainly due to having stole money from Italian
mobsters. Despite all of the controversy online due to the plot and casting
choices, I decided to go see the film on my own and come to my own conclusion
regarding Sinners. My first impression of the film was somewhat critical, but as
I continued to watch it, I eventually enjoyed it, especially the cultural and historical elements to the plot.
The Twins are named Smoke and Stack that I assume was a reference to the blues song Smokestack Lightning by Howlin' Wolf since the blues is a heavy
inspiration throughout the film. I did notice the references to Robert Johnson as well,
specifically the legend about him "selling his soul" at the crossroads as well as the
esoteric elements latent in Blues music. I took note of the correlation between
the Blues and Gospel, both black American art forms and how they are both
mediums used to invoke spirits. Not only that how both genres of music have been used to express a bevy of emotions, in particular, sadness, despair, depression, love, disenfranchisement, oppression, hope etc that are parts of the African American experience.
I also liked the incorporation of Hoodoo through Annie, which is another black American cultural tradition, although not all practice but it is present in the South.
Due to the historical significance of the one-drop rule and how it was enforced
in the Jim Crow South, Steinfeld's casting did make some sense, as she possibly
would've only been 1/8th black at best. Despite her ancestry, it would have made
it easier for her to pass as white, which is what she did. We do see how she
utilizes this privilege to speak to the Irish folk singers who stopped by the
juke joint. She does to help Stack get more money for his business. Unbeknownst
to Mary (Hailee Steinfeld), the threesome are actually vampires and she is
bitten by Remmick, played by Jack O'Connell. My spiritual take on it is that
although Mary and Stack becoming vampires at the end and living in eternity
together, I felt actually lost an ancestral birthright or the ability to become
ancestors as they are trapped in the physical realm, especially Stack. I do think it was intentional for Mary to have been cast the way she was in the story as well, although I'm not exactly sure but possibly lust on Stack's part and how that impacted everyone else in the story, but most importantly the reason he became a vampire and lost his ability to become an ancestor.
Smoke - vaporized (ascended) whereas as Stack, was stuck or how money was what caused the demise of everyone in the juke joint.
Unlike Annie (Wunmi Mosaku) and Smoke, who despite dying were able to go into the
spirit realm and become ancestors. Online discourse would claim that the Mary
and Stack lived for eternity, but they were actually trapped souls and unable to
cross over due to being vampires. I didn't find that to be a good thing as
they're literally blood sucking entities that lack a soul now and no longer have
spirital freedom. I don't know exactly what Coogler's intention for that was but
I interpreted as Stack losing his ability to become an ancestor, which Annie was
aware of hence why she intstructed Smoke to kill her if she were to get bitten.
We then see him fighting the klan the morning after, where he does end up
getting shot and we see him reunited Annie and their deceased son, as they all
are now ancestors in the afterlife together. Another thing, since Sammie (Miles
Caton) did not become a vampire, I wonder what was the intention behind him
coming back home to the church to visit his father? What was the message behind
his father (Saul Williams), the pastor telling his son to put the guitar down? I
know some may refer to secular music as "devil music" which also ties into the
esoteric elements of the blues.
I noticed this theme throughout, and I wonder if one has a gift, like they mentioned griots,
like in West African culture, is one supposed to abandon it? I think that was another element of Sammie choosing his own path at the end.
We do see Sammie leaving, possibly to the town
one of the Twins told him about. I interpreted this as him going his own way,
literally and spiritually, despite what Christianity espouses.
This sentiment is similar to what Remmick says to Sammie when he and the other vampires corner him, and he is in the lake. Remmick mentions how Christianity was also imposed
upon his ancestors, the Irish, much like Black Americans and other diasporic
black people during the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. We see Remmick dumping
Sammie into the water multiple times in this scene, much like a baptism. So, we
can infer that Sammie was saved literally and figuratively as we know "the wages
of sin is death" as shown in the film, not just physical, but a spiritual one as
well.
I also wonder how were the Choctaw immune to the vampires? What kind of
protection did they have that Annie didn't? We do see how her mojo bag for Smoke
did in fact work as he survived in the end. Also, I suppose the vampires singing
the Irish folk songs was to symbolize them losing their culture? Also, Remmick's
desire to turn Sammie into a vampire could have possibly symbolized how black
artists have sometimes been taken advantage of, or even from a spiritual
perspective his gift would have been stolen as all the vampires lost their
culture after being bitten by the Remmick and his family. In my opinion, the
vampires were metaphorical for demons or demonic possession. Not only that but Stack being a prisoner in his body as he is spiritually dead, in the vessel that allows him still to "exist" and walk the Earth.
At the end when Mary and Stack, who are now vampires, meet with the older Sammie Moore (Buddy
Guy), it is noted that Stack and Sammie both mention how the last time they were
truly happy was before the sun went down that day. Specifically, Stack says how
that was the last day he saw the sun and truly felt free. The cast also featured
Delroy Lindo as Delta Slim, Jayme Lawson as Pearline, and Omar Benson Miller as
Cornbread. Li Jun Li and Nathaniel Archand as the shopkeepers and Lola Kirke.
Therefore, I'd rate this film a 8.5 out of 10. Hopefully, this film will get
some award nominations. I also felt this was some of Michael B. Jordan's best acting. The rest of the cast was stellar as well.
Howlin' Wolf - Smokestack Lightning
Muddy Waters - Got My Mojo Working
I'll Be So Glad (When the Sun Goes Down) - Prison Work Song
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