Sinners | Film, Ryan Coogler, Michael B. Jordan, Box Office, Cast, Budget, Oscars, & Horror | Britannica

Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture ProCon Money Videos Sinners Introduction & Top QuestionsPlot summary and charactersConcept and themesDevelopment, filming, and musicReception and accolades References & Edit History Related Topics Images Related Questions What is the movie Sinners about? Is Sinners based on a true story? What themes does Sinners explore? How did Sinners make Oscars history? Who composed the soundtrack of Sinners? Contents print Print Please select which sections you would like to print: CITE verifiedCite While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Select Citation Style MLA APA Chicago Manual of Style Copy Citation Share Share Share to social media Facebook X URL https://www.britannica.com/topic/Sinners-2025-film Feedback Feedback Thank you for your feedback Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. External Websites Sinners film by Coogler [2025] Ask Anything Homework Help Written by Arpit Nayak Arpit Nayak is an associate editor at Encyclopedia Britannica. Arpit Nayak Fact-checked by Britannica Editors Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree.... Britannica Editors Last updated Feb. 24, 2026 •History Britannica AI Ask Anything Table of Contents Table of Contents Ask Anything Facing the undead(Starting second from left, facing forward) Jayme Lawson, Wunmi Mosaku, Michael B. Jordan, Miles Caton, and Li Jun Li in a still from Sinners (2025), directed by Ryan Coogler.(more) Top Questions What is the movie Sinners about? Sinners is a mythic horror film set in the Mississippi Delta during the Jim Crow era. It adapts the blood-and-fangs conventions of the vampire genre to explore the folklore and legacy of blues music. The plot follows twins whose juke joint is besieged by vampires drawn to a young blues prodigy’s talent, reflecting on Black art’s cultural appropriation. Is Sinners based on a true story? Sinners is not a true story. It has an original screenplay by director Ryan Coogler, who drew heavily from the history of the Jim Crow-era Mississippi Delta and the associated folklore and legacy of the blues. The film adapts the blood-and-fangs conventions of the vampire genre to reflect on how Black art is often stripped of its roots and identity in mainstream culture. What themes does Sinners explore? Sinners explores themes of family, community, and cultural expression, tying them to the cultural history of the blues. It incorporates the vampire mythos to produce a fitting thematic antagonist who threatens the erasure of freedom, cultural history, and communal memory. It comments on the appropriation of Black art by mainstream culture and draws parallels among vampirism, organized religion, and colonialism. How did Sinners make Oscars history? Sinners made history by becoming the first film to receive 16 Academy Award nominations, including best picture, director, original screenplay, actor, and original score. It received overwhelming critical acclaim for its performances, music, and storytelling and was a box-office success, grossing almost $370 million worldwide and ranking seventh among the highest-earning films in the United States in 2025. Who composed the soundtrack of Sinners? Ludwig Göransson composed the soundtrack of Sinners. He pulled extensively from the lineage of the Mississippi Delta blues and had a personal connection to the blues through his father. Göransson also drew from old records director Ryan Coogler shared with him, including those of Robert Johnson and Tommy Johnson. Sinners also features several original tracks, including “I Lied to You” and “Last Time (I Seen the Sun).” Was Sinners shot on IMAX? Director Ryan Coogler and director of photography Autumn Durald Arkapaw filmed Sinners by combining two different high-quality formats—the Ultra Panavision 70 and IMAX—in service of what Coogler termed “epic storytelling.” This also leads to the changing aspect ratios in the original cut of the film, switching between the wider Ultra Panavision shots and the taller IMAX shots. News • BAFTA and BBC apologize for racial slur during awards show • Feb. 24, 2026, 6:06 AM ET (AP) ...(Show more) Stars and royals gather for the BAFTA film awards, with 'One Battle' and 'Sinners' leading the race • Feb. 22, 2026, 2:39 PM ET (AP) Oscar hopefuls including Jessie Buckley and Timothée Chalamet gather for luncheon and class picture • Feb. 10, 2026, 8:25 PM ET (AP) Show less Written and directed by Ryan Coogler, Sinners sculpts the early history of blues music in the Mississippi Delta—the music’s folklore, legacy, and the African American communities that birthed it—into a mythic horror film, both poignant and terrifying. It adapts the blood-and-fangs conventions of the vampire genre to reflect on how Black art is often stripped of its roots and identity in mainstream culture. Released in 2025, the movie follows twins whose juke joint comes under siege from vampires drawn by the otherworldly talent of a young blues prodigy. Sinners met widespread acclaim for its scope and layered storytelling, earning a record 16 Oscar nominations.(Read more about the Delta blues and its history.)Production CreditsWriter and director: Ryan CooglerDirector of photography: Autumn Durald ArkapawComposer: Ludwig GöranssonEditor: Michael P. ShawverExecutive music producer: Serena GöranssonProducers: Zinzi Coogler, Sev Ohanian, and Ryan Coogler Plot summary and characters Editor’s note: This section contains spoilers. “On the surface, a story set in 1932 Mississippi Delta might feel small, but so much has come out of that place. Blues has shaped global pop culture as we know it today. It’s an often-overlooked piece of our history that we hope will no longer be.”—Sinners producer Zinzi Coogler, in 2025 Variety interview What Does the Devil Have to Do with the Blues?Folklore and popular tradition have often linked the blues to the wicked and demonic. The genre likely earned its notoriety as “the Devil’s music” because it originated in juke joints and barrelhouses—spaces associated with activities that preachers and churchgoers considered sinful, including drinking, gambling, and adultery—in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Many early blues musicians leaned into this devilish mystique around the blues, writing lyrics that touched on transgressive subjects such as lust, jealousy, and rendezvous with the Devil—all of which fed into the legends that accompanied the genre. Perhaps the most enduring tale in the blues’ infernal mythology is that of Robert Johnson, a prodigious guitar player believed by many to have met the Devil at a crossroads and sold his soul to him in exchange for exceptional musical ability. SinnersMichael B. Jordan plays twins Smoke and Stack in Sinners (2025).(more)The events of Sinners unfold over 24 hours. Twins Smoke and Stack (both played by Michael B. Jordan), World War I veterans who have come into money through gang-related activities in Chicago, return to their hometown Clarksdale, Mississippi, in 1932. There they set up a juke joint (an informal venue offering music, dance, and gambling, typically run by African Americans) in an abandoned sawmill purchased from Hogwood (Dave Maldonado), a white man who, unbeknownst to the twins, is a Ku Klux Klan (KKK) leader. The twins invite their cousin Sammie (Miles Caton), a plantation worker and virtuosic young blues singer, to perform at the juke joint that evening, accompanied by the alcohol-loving seasoned pianist Delta Slim (Delroy Lindo). They task Chinese shop owners Grace Chow (Li Jun Li) and Bo Chow (Yao) with supplying food and building a sign for the joint and entrust cotton sharecropper Cornbread (Omar Miller) with front-door security. Along the way the twins are entangled in past relationships: Stack is accosted by his former flame Mary (Hailee Steinfeld), a married white-passing woman with Black ancestry, who resents Stack for leaving her behind, and Smoke visits his wife, Hoodoo practitioner Annie (Wunmi Mosaku), with whom he continues to mourn the baby they lost years ago. Annie agrees to cook for the juke joint’s customers that night. Meanwhile, Sammie urges Pearline (Jayme Lawson), a married singer, to come to the opening. Elsewhere in the Mississippi Delta, Remmick (Jack O’Connell), an Irishman, knocks on the door of a racist white couple, Joan (Lola Kirke) and Bert (Peter Dreimanis), seeking protection from a band of Choctaw horsemen who are chasing him. Despite the Choctaws’ warnings, the couple refuses to hand Remmick over—only for Remmick to then reveal himself as a vampire and turn them. Those who become vampires share their memories with all other vampires and pursue a shared goal. Back at the juke joint, customers—mostly plantation workers—arrive after a hard day’s work to sing, dance, and drink. Pearline heeds Sammie’s call and Mary arrives uninvited but is warmly welcomed in by Cornbread. The evening reaches its apogee with Sammie’s performance of the song “I Lied to You,” written as an ode to his preacher father, who disapproves of the blues, often referring to it as the Devil’s music. As Sammie sings and plays the guitar, the film briefly drifts into a phantasmal sequence in which time and space evaporate and apparitions of past and future Black musicians and performers—invisible to the characters in the film—convene in the juke joint, summoned by Sammie’s sublime talent. The surreal time-bending imagery—which includes an electric guitar player, a DJ, and West African griots—evokes the centuries of shared Black history and culture that inspired musical genres such as the blues, rock and roll, and hip hop. Concurrently, the inclusion of Chinese mythological and cultural iconography—in the form of Sun Wukong (also known as the Monkey King), xiqu (Chinese opera) performers, and martial arts—alludes to the influence of immigrant culture on the American ethos. It is the supernatural magnetism of Sammie’s music, however, that attracts Remmick and his coven of vampires. Unable to enter the premises without an invitation, they entreat the twins to let them in, claiming to be traveling musicians who believe in equality. Unwilling to trust them, the twins refuse. Mary later talks Stack into letting her find out if the trio has money to spend, but this leads to her being turned into a vampire and converting Stack soon after. The party is called off, and customers are asked to leave; they are all later turned into vampires, as are Cornbread and Bo. Only a handful of survivors remain, including Smoke, Sammie, Annie, Delta Slim, Grace, and Pearline. Annie explains that the vampires can be held off with garlic, wood, and holy water. Their plan is to deny the vampires entry until sunrise, which is injurious to vampires. However, when the vampires threaten to turn Grace’s young daughter, she snaps and shouts for them to come in, intending to fight and finish them off. Explore Britannica Premium! The trusted destination for professionals, college students, and lifelong learners. SUBSCRIBE In the ensuing fight, all but Smoke and Sammie are either turned or killed. As Smoke fights with and ultimately subdues Stack, Remmick tries to convert Sammie, telling him ominously, “I want your stories, and I want your songs—and you’re gonna have mine.” Just as it seems Remmick is going to turn Sammie, Smoke stabs Remmick with a wooden stake, and the vampire goes up in flames, along with most of his horde as the sun rises. The threat vanquished, Smoke sends Sammie home. Hogwood and fellow KKK members arrive shortly after, intending to kill everyone at the joint—a plan that Remmick had informed Smoke about. Smoke guns them all down but is fatally shot in the process. Sammie returns to his father, who implores Sammie to forsake the blues, but he does not. Decades later Sammie, now old and a professional musician (played by Buddy Guy), is visited by Stack and Mary, who have not aged. Stack reveals that Smoke spared him that night but made him promise to let Sammie live out his life. Stack offers to turn Sammie, thereby granting him immortality, but Sammie declines. Concept and themes Horror epic(Front, from left) Michael B. Jordan and Ryan Coogler on the set of Sinners (2025).(more) Coogler’s earliest associations with the blues and stories from Mississippi were through his uncle James, to whom he was close. Coogler’s grief following his uncle’s death in 2015 deepened his interest in the musical genre and its roots in Black history. His family has historical ties to the Mississippi region and the Great Migration, which saw millions of African Americans from rural communities migrate from the American South to urban areas in Northern and Western states during the 20th century to seek economic opportunities and avoid racial oppression, most notably inflicted through segregation under Jim Crow laws. However, Coogler was not interested solely in crafting an allegory of racial violence but rather in exploring themes of family and community by way of the life-affirming cultural expression—best exemplified by the blues—of the people from that time and place. He told Variety in 2025, When people think about the 1930s Mississippi, the first thing that comes to mind is segregation. Hard times. You don’t think about people dealing with all that actually having a good time, like having a party so good you wish you could go to it. I was like, “Oh yeah, we might have a movie here.” And not just a movie, but a movie for our time now. On the hunt for blood and music(From left) Lola Kirke, Jack O'Connell, and Peter Dreimanis play a coven of vampires in the film Sinners (2025), directed by Ryan Coogler.(more)The blues’ long-standing association with the supernatural afforded Coogler the opportunity to reimagine familiar archetypes linked to the blues such as twins, an unnaturally gifted musician, and crossroads. Influenced by Stephen King’s novel ’Salem’s Lot (1975), Coogler incorporated the vampire mythos to produce a fitting thematic antagonist who threatens the erasure of freedom, cultural history, and communal memory. Sinners reserves perhaps its most scathing commentary for the way Black art is absorbed and commodified by a white-dominant mainstream culture that strips it of context and ownership. These central metaphors are made complex by the nuances in racial dynamics among Black, Irish, and Choctaw communities and resist reductive binary interpretations of oppression. In many respects the film draws parallels between vampirism and organized religion—especially in conjunction with colonialism—in their tendency to impose conformity and flatten meaningful differences. Development, filming, and music Academy Award NominationsPicture (Zinzi Coogler, Sev Ohanian, and Ryan Coogler)Director (Ryan Coogler)Original screenplay (Ryan Coogler)Actor (Michael B. Jordan)Supporting actor (Delroy Lindo)Supporting actress (Wunmi Mosaku)Casting (Francine Maisler)Cinematography (Autumn Durald Arkapaw)Production design (Hannah Beachler and Monique Champagne)Costume design (Ruth E. Carter)Film editing (Michael P. Shawver)Makeup and hairstyling (Ken Diaz, Michael Fontaine, and Shunika Terry)Original score (Ludwig Göransson)Original song (“I Lied to You”; Ludwig Göransson and Raphael Saadiq)Sound (Chris Welcker, Benjamin A. Burtt, Felipe Pacheco, Brandon Proctor, and Steve Boeddeker)Visual effects (Michael Ralla, Espen Nordahl, Guido Wolter, and Donnie Dean) By Christmas 2023 Coogler had completed the script for Sinners, the first movie he would direct under the banner of Proximity Media, his production company. Following a bidding war, Warner Bros. won the rights to release and distribute the film. Under the agreement the movie’s ownership rights would return to Coogler after 25 years—an unusual deal only heavyweight directors such as Quentin Tarantino had inked before. Coogler also negotiated ultimate authority over the film’s final cut and a percentage of gross collections even before the studio recovered costs. The film reportedly cost more than $90 million. Coogler and director of photography Autumn Durald Arkapaw filmed the movie by combining two different high-quality formats—Ultra Panavision 70 and IMAX—in service of what Coogler termed “epic storytelling.” In keeping with the subject matter, the soundtrack, composed by Ludwig Göransson, pulled extensively from the lineage of the Delta blues. Besides a personal connection to the blues via his father, Göransson also drew from old records Coogler shared with him, including those of Robert Johnson and Tommy Johnson. Sinners also features several original tracks, including “I Lied to You,” written by Göransson and Raphael Saadiq, and “Last Time (I Seen the Sun),” written by Göransson, Alice Smith, and Caton. Reception and accolades Sinners met with overwhelming critical success upon its release, with reviewers commending the film’s performances, music, thematic richness, and fresh take on genre storytelling. It was also a massive box-office draw, grossing almost $370 million worldwide and ranking seventh among the highest-earning films in the United States in 2025. Sinners made history as the first film to receive 16 Academy Award nominations, breaking the previous record of 14, jointly held by All About Eve (1950), Titanic (1997), and La La Land (2016). Among a host of other awards, Sinners received Golden Globes for best original score (Göransson) and cinematic and box office achievement. It also won three BAFTAs: best original screenplay, best original score, and best supporting actress (Wunmi Mosaku). Arpit Nayak