Why We All Love Sinners

Ok, this time I’m keeping in ALL THE SPOILERS. If you haven’t seen Sinners yet, SAVE THIS AND COME BACK LATER.

I happen to be in the not-so-small group of people that believes Sinners could be the best movie of the year. Y’all have had another week to go see it. I went again (support Black businesses, ya know). I figured out what was going on after the first time blew my mind. Now…I’m ready to talk about it.

The buzz around Sinners is undeniable. Its box office success and the intense social media engagement indicate more than a fleeting cultural moment. This isn’t Brat Summer. This movie has tapped into something deeper. The conversations it’s sparking and hold it has on audiences echo the impact of films like Moonlight, The Farewell, Nope, and Killers of the Flower Moon, reinforcing a clear message: audiences are starving for good, new stories with meaningful representation. It’s not hard. We all just want to see ourselves, our lives up on the big screen. 

But what is it, specifically, about Sinners and what does it tell us about Hollywood's path forward?

Audiences respond to authenticity. Sinners takes an unflinching look at life in the Mississippi Delta under Jim Crow. Take the twins’ round trip from Chicago. They returned to the Delta when they realized the North is, just a taller version of the Mississippi they left behind. This isn't just a plot device for character development. It’s an allusion to the historical reality of the Great Migration. The twins’ experience was true for many Black Americans who moved to Chicago and other northern cities. There was a persistent, covert racism waiting in their new homes, a prejudice that’s harder to combat in some ways because it can’t be addressed head-on. 

Details like this make audiences feel understood and appreciated. Mainstream movies usually don’t go out of their way to validate the story of marginalized audience members. However, we see the response it created. Engagement like this is a studio’s dream. 

It’s happening because as people find points of connection they become invested. What if the answer to better box office numbers isn’t ad spend? Could studio execs improve their bottom lines just by choosing to vary the stories they tell and who they choose to tell them with? Surely, it’s not that simple. Isn’t it?

One of the most special things about Sinners is the care and intentionality with which it portrays Black characters. Unlike the many films that center whiteness, Sinners takes deliberate care in portraying its Black characters with depth and integrity. Take Preacher Boy’s father. He was presented as a pillar of the community, known to be honorable and a nurturing caretaker for his family. His integrity is fundamental to who the character is and the initial conflict which sets the entire plot in motion. 

Every detail in this movie is so intentional. For example, when hiring the girl in town to be his lookout, Smoke insists on paying a higher price after she agrees to his first offer without negotiating. He takes the time, and cuts into his profits, to teach a young person a lesson about negotiating a fair price. Pardon my stating the obvious. There aren’t a lot of movies that show Black men as benevolent business owners invested in teaching the next generation. 

Or, think about how Stack promised to let Preacher Boy drive the car “later.” After Stack dies and becomes a vampire, Preacher Boy survives the night and lives to drive home the next morning. In the post-credit scene, we learn Preacher Boy is alive because Stack honored his word to spare Preacher Boy’s life. What’s seemingly a throwaway conversation between cousins actually turns out to be brilliant foreshadowing, underscoring the sanctity of the bond between brothers.  

Delta Slim promises Preacher Boy the Devil will have to go through him first. Later, this is exactly how he dies. Delta Slim sacrifices himself as a diversion to help Preacher Boy get away. 

Part of why I love this movie is because it’s all about how Black men keep their word. It builds up their character.

Portrayals like these challenge lazy stereotypes and show Black men as individuals with strong moral codes and deep emotional connections. Brothers don’t usually get the benefit of nuance. It doesn’t mean audiences shouldn’t get to see it. The loving attention to character development created a powerful connection between the movie and fans.

Finally, Sinners uses the mundane to speak hard truths. Consider the demise of the characters. Preacher Boy’s love of secular music nearly cost him his life. For Cornbread, it was money. Alcohol for Delta Slim. Sex and lust killed Smoke and Stack. The vices of these men, their sins (certainly in this period), were their downfall. This movie is a warning about the danger of unchecked desire. 

There’s a moment when Preacher Boy, Stack, and Delta Slim are driving and Delta Slim yells to a chain gang they pass to hold their heads high. He explains how he knows them and tells the devastating story of their different fates. It was a moment that was at once enraging and heartbreaking. With it, Coogler highlights the precarious reality for Black men in America. Sometimes the difference between freedom, incarceration, and lynching is a matter of chance. It’s a painful truth that sets our souls on fire. It’s the source of that transcendent Blues. 

The moment that took my breath away was actually a simple exchange between Annie and Smoke: 

I won’t lie to y’all. I didn’t catch this the first time. It’s so simple and so effective. Annie’s answer speaks to the way our society often dismisses Black women. It’s not that Annie can’t complain, rather, it’s not worth her energy. The expectation is that she’ll manage because she has to. No one is coming to save her. In fact, someone is only asking because today they need something else from her. 

I’m telling you. The details in this movie are CRAZY. Once you start looking for the symbolism, you’ll see it everywhere.

Put simply, it’s my professional opinion that 1) everyone needs to see this movie and 2) everyone should see it more than once.

The success of Sinners isn’t an anomaly. It’s not a lucky catch of lightning in a bottle. This movie is the result of many deliberate choices, spanning from the greenlight all the way to post production. It is a powerful indicator of appetite for original, complicated, authentic stories. 

This moment echoes the "golden age" of Black cinema in the 1990s, where filmmakers were given the space to tell their stories with similar integrity and vision, resulting in some of the most iconic movies of all time. The continued resonance of such narratives underscores the urgent need for Hollywood to recognize the power and potential of investing in diverse voices, especially at this moment in history. Fans have already spoken: the future of film is embracing the wonderful variety of human experiences with honesty and care.

P.S. If you’re wondering where Second Drink came from, you can thank my current rewatch of The Office :) It’s when you let the ice melt after you finish your adult beverage and then BAM! Second Drink! Yes, it was a very drunk thought.