SINNERS: the best movie of 2025

Hi, I’m back! It would be a travesty if the ghost of 2025 fades away with the new year without my paying glowing tribute to Sinners, the best movie of 2025, in my opinion.

I planned to do this review sooner, most especially as I don’t feel the movie gets the accolades it deserves. I have heard many other movies touted as the best last year. One Battle After Another– a good film, no doubt, with a stellar cast and based on a current, burning topic. Then there’s 28 Years Later. Some have mentioned blockbusters like Superman, Predator: Badlands, and Avatar: Fire & Ash (which I found interesting but agonizingly protracted). However, in a year that I felt few blockbusters lived up to their hype, an original horror story comes with an ‘indie’ spirit to steal the show. Never mind that it was produced by Warner Bros!

What’s more, it was produced, written, and directed by a man of colour and (very important) had an international appeal. Bias? If I had any, it would be for period pieces. But let’s all admit it is no mean feat to achieve in Hollywood. Perhaps it came out too early in the year so many have forgotten how well-done it was both story- and production-wise?

I mentioned that Ryan Coogler’s Sinners- deserves its flowers. And they are purely on merit- no sentiments. The quality of production, directing, and storytelling was commendable. You find yourself engrossed in Coogler’s narration, the slow build-up and his introduction of characters, etc. It was not just another horror flick. It was multi-cultural, historical, and then some.

The Plot & Comparisons

If you haven’t watched the film, I suggest you stop here and go watch it because I don’t consider anything I’m going to say as a spoiler. Heck, the movie was released back in April! So watch it already! The story is about two World War I veterans- African American twins- the Moores- both played by Michael B. Jordan. They return home to a racially charged Mississippi after rolling with the Mafia in Chicago for some years. They want to settle down and own a property, so they buy an old saw mill and convert it to a juke joint for the black folks. Little did they know that the place had a dark history. Sounds cliché? Far from it!

Not only does the twins’ criminal past come to haunt them, but they are also haunted by centuries-old vampires. In a real creepy way. There was something about Sinners that reminded me of the fantasy horror series True Blood and the ’90s thriller Tremors (featuring Kevin Bacon). Neither, surprisingly, was mentioned by Coogler as one of his inspirations. Sinners has similarities with Tremors. Their characters were trapped indoors, were terrorized, and killed by otherworldly creatures drawn to them by sweet music or vibrations. A similar tremor-loving subterranean creature appeared in Dune, if I remember correctly. Also, as usual, these people are trapped in a remote town with no means of communication with the outside world. Adds to the tension. Years later, I still fondly remember Tremors as a pure, undiluted adrenaline rush of a movie. Sinners is, without doubt, no less.

But Sinners is more than an adrenaline rush. Ryan Coogler takes his time to build a backstory that brings his characters to life. He makes you connect with their joy and pain. The setting, too, is peculiar for a horror story- 1932, racially segregated Jim Crow-era Mississippi. One that allows us to delve into cultural and historical nuances as well as topics still burning today. Ryan Coogler does not shy away from controversial discourse here, while ensuring that we understand the movie’s essence. A darn good horror flick. He always guarantees that we leave with something more than just fun. Always something contextual to ruminate on, however subtle. These days, many movie writers are forced to ‘dumb down’ and quicken their story pace for the sake of consumerism.

The Refreshing Ending

The movie’s ending is also non-traditional and unexpected. For that, we give Coogler kudos, especially as Hollywood endings are getting quite predictable these days. No thanks to a commercialization that panders to the audience’s expectations. I daresay one of the reasons many didn’t like the final season of Game of Thrones was that the ending didn’t go the way many imagined it. The fear of fans’ backlash keeps many directors stuck in the safe zone. Here, Coogler does his own thing and it was refreshing. Like an M. Shyamalan movie back in the day. Two thumbs up to creative freedom.

The Characters

I cannot end without giving props to Michael B. Jordan’s portrayal of Elijah “Smoke” and Elias “Stack” Moore- twins (‘nah, we cuzins!’) with different personalities -both likable. One blunt and the other charming. Their lives were not squeaky-clean, but they wanted to return home. To wipe their slates clean, and do some good in their community. Their shades of grey added some colour to the movie. They sometimes fall into a stereotypical reaction once in a while. Nevertheless, with characters like the Preacher Boy, Pearline, the lovable Cornbread, and the obnoxious Remmick, what’s not to love about this movie?

The Forrest Gump Hope

I sincerely hope it gets the Oscar it deserves, like many great movies before it. I also hope it stands like Forrest Gump- not ruined by a sequel, regardless of pressure to make one.

If you haven’t watched Sinners up till now, I really don’t know what you’re waiting for.