It can be difficult to decide what to watch when we have so many choices on streaming platforms, but if you are looking for a film that will have you glued to the screen, then I highly recommend Sinners. I saw Sinners in the cinema last month, knowing nothing about it, and was so blown away that I pre-ordered it on Amazon Prime the moment I got home.

I’ve been counting down the days to rewatch Sinners. This film is not just a typical horror that will simply give you a good scare; it manages to tell an incredibly thoughtful story. If you enjoy bloody red vampire movies and classic blues music, then load this on your television. I guarantee this will be one of the best movies to see this year.

What is Sinners about?

Sammie, also known as Preacher Boy, is a young man who has grown up in 1930s Mississippi during the height of the Jim Crow era, and dreams of becoming a famous blues musician.

He finally gets his chance when his cousins, twin brothers Elijah ‘Smoke’ and Elias ‘Stack’, return home after making a fortune in Chicago outsmarting Irish and Italian gangsters.

Smoke and Stack want to open a juke joint: a club where people can drink, dance, and relax in relative safety, despite the strict segregation laws of the American South.

They manage to set up the juke joint in an old sawmill, and the opening night seems like a success until an Irish vampire named Remmick hears Sammie play.

Sammie is believed to have a supernatural talent for music, as the opening scene in Sinners warns that there are some people with gifts so incredible that they can bring communities together but also attract great evil.

Now, Sammie, Stack, Smoke, and a host of other vivid characters must survive the night as Remmick begins turning people into a hive-minded legion of monsters, all circling the juke joint.

Michael B. Jordan’s best role yet

Sinners may be a horror movie, but the first half could easily be mistaken as a crime drama, as it focuses on twin brothers Smoke and Stack (both played by Michael B. Jordan) returning home.

The movie takes its time to build tension and make you love the characters before any of the supernatural elements are introduced, so you are invested in who will survive the night.

Smoke is grieving the loss of a child and meets up with estranged wife Annie, a voodoo practitioner and spiritual leader, to ask for her help to set up the juke joint.

Stack runs into Mary, his white-passing ex-girlfriend, who is furious at him for breaking up with her, but it is clear Stack is trying to protect her and try to give her a better life.

Michael B. Jordan is the highlight of the movie in these dual yet distinct roles, and it is worth seeing Sinners just to see his incredible acting talent in these roles.

The magic of music 

While Smoke and Stack steal the show, it is really Sammie, played by Miles Caton in his first acting role, who is the heart of the movie.

Once Sammie takes the stage, it is clear why vampires go to the trouble to come after him, as the song ‘I Lied to You’ is the most electrifying moment of Sinners.

As Sammie plays the blues, the scene on the dance floor masterfully shows what music influenced the song in the past and what musicians will be inspired by the song in the future.

It is one of the best musical scenes I have ever seen on film, and it clearly shows how music can connect us and keep communities alive.

A fresh take on vampires 

Vampires became a bit of an overused and stale genre throughout the 2010s thanks to the infamous Twilight series, but Sinners has shown they can still be terrifying when done right.

Remmick (played by Jack O’Connell) is no typical monster, but an Irish immigrant whose grief for a lost homeland drives him to create a new community by force.

However, it is hard to feel any sympathy towards him as he is not just turning victims, but assimilating them into a hive mind that becomes a chilling metaphor for colonialism.

All the vampires share memories in this movie, and as Remmick belts out the song ‘Rocky Road to Dublin, ’ it is clear that he is the one pulling the strings, no matter how much he claims to truly care about equality.

What are people saying about Sinners? 

Sinners has immediately achieved critical acclaim and is currently Rotten Tomatoes’ most popular movie after earning a 97% rating from critics and a 96% rating from over 25,000 verified users.

It has also been given an average rating of ‘A’ by CinemaScore, which asks opening night audiences to rate films, and has remarkably become the highest rating given to a horror movie in the exit poll’s 47-year history.

It has also been described as “one of the most entertaining surprises to arrive in theatres in a long time” by Thom Ernst from Original-Cin. He wrote: “Sinners, the new film directed by Ryan Coogler and starring Michael B. Jordan, needs no more than a one-word review; Stunning. Magical also works. So does unforgettable.”

Helen O’Hara from Empire said Sinners is “one to sink your teeth into.” She said: “An idiosyncratic, thematically dense twist on the vampire myth that’s oddly paced but beautifully played.”

Hope Madden for UK Film Review said: “It’s scary. It’s sexy. The action slaps. It’s funny when it needs to be, sad just as often. It looks and sounds incredible. And there’s a cameo from Buddy F. Guy, in case you needed a little authenticity.”