Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for Sinners.
If you have a Letterboxd account, you’ve definitely heard of Sinners. The film stars Michael B. Jordan (playing twins) and is directed by Black Panther and Creed visionary Ryan Coogler. Sinners follows the Smokestack twins’ (Jordan) attempt to open a juke joint in their southern Mississippi town after spending several years as gangsters in Chicago. Set in 1932 and occurring over the course of 24 hours, Sinners is a deeply symbolic, innovative, and captivating movie that blends multiple genres to create a rich narrative tale with an unlikely feature.Â
The film opens with the Smokestack twins’ younger cousin, Sammie (Miles Caton) returning home to the church where his father is a pastor the morning after the film’s major events take place. Clutching the neck of a guitar, this scene establishes Sammie as a musical vessel for the story. It also introduces music as a powerful component of the film overall.
Elijah (Smoke) and Elias (Stack) Moore (Jordan), are twins who have just returned to their hometown of Clarksdale, Mississippi in October 1932. Freshly rich from their careers as Chicago gangsters, the twins have ambitions to open up a juke joint in the town. The introductory shot of the twins shows Stack lighting a cigarette before passing it to Smoke. This symbol of smoke will remain prevalent throughout the entire film, possibly an allusion to the story’s conclusion.
As the twins scoop up Sammie, they begin to prepare the juke joint for business. During their separate endeavors, the characters introduce Grace (Li Jun Li), Delta Slim (Delroy Lindo), Mary (Hailee Steinfeld), Pearline (Jayme Lawson), and Annie (Wunmi Mosaku) to the plot. The latter three are the film’s love interests.
The brothers’ ultimate goal with their juke joint is to create a place for the Black community of Clarskdale to gather that is all their own. However, right as their joyful preparations get underway, the film’s central conflict emerges with the introduction of Remmick (Jack O’Connell). A vampire, Remmick is on the run from Choctaw Native American vampire hunters. He flees into the home of Joan (Lola Kirke) and Bert (Peter Dreimanis), who he turns into vampires too.
Approaching the juke joint, the vampires begin their rampage. They start by turning Mary (who then turns Stack), which incites a night of terror for Smoke, Annie, Grace, Pearline, Delta Slim, and Sammie. As the night wears on, the remaining characters also meet their demise (save for Smoke and Sammie).
After the night ends, Smoke and Sammie separate. As Smoke sits at the site of the joint, he tries to roll a cigarette, shaking whilst doing so. The Klansman who sold the building to Smoke and the late Stack appears with his friends, which leads Smoke to go on a violent rampage. After the Klansman gives Smoke a cigarette, Smoke kills him. However, at the same moment, he is also fatally shot. As he smokes, a vision of Annie and their baby who died appears. She tells him to put out the cigarette so he can hold the baby. As he snuffs out the cigarette, his life ends.
Sinners is steeped in symbolism. However, two major symbols stand out: Sammie’s music and smoke. Remmick in particular connects greatly with Sammie’s musical abilities. This implies that Sammie’s musical abilities are able to transcend the earthly world to enter a spiritual realm, which is what draws Remmick to the Smokestack twins’ juke joint in the first place. Remmick is actually Irish, and was colonized himself. Sammie’s music provides Remmick comfort and solace from the troubles he has experienced. Remmick also attempts to use Irish folk music as a mirror to the Delta Blues of the juke joint. This attempt, however, can be seen as a motive to eliminate the Black culture of Delta Blues style. Additionally, Sammie’s guitar — his sort of “magical power” — is what’s used to render Remmick weak enough to receive a fatal stake to the heart.
Despite Sammie’s music being a sort of saving grace, his father says his music is a sin. When Sammie returns home, his father demands he drops the neck of the guitar. Sammie refuses, which leads to him leaving home. The mid-credits scene reveals that Sammie now has an established career as a successful bluesman (played by Buddy Guy). Sammie’s music, which he at one point sees as the reason why the night’s horrific events happened, is ultimately able to provide him comfort, happiness, and fulfillment in life. The symbolism of Sammie’s musical power also relates to the heavy influence of the Mississippi Delta Blues on American music, seen in *that* scene of the movie. Â
The other major symbol in Sinners is smoke. The fact that a character is named Smoke means something, but the actual action of smoking is also meaningful. Spiritually, smoke is used for sacrifice or as a meaning of signaling. If we use this interpretation, the film could have been signaling that Smoke and Stack would die from the very beginning. Even though Smoke’s death might seem surprising to viewers, the brothers are both smoking in the opening scene — meaning they will both die in sacrificial ways. For Stack, this sacrifice emerges when, in place of actually sending the wooden stake through his heart, Smoke risks (or sacrifices) this confirmation of death in order to let his brother live in eternity with Mary. Smoke sacrifices his own peace of mind to let his brother have an experience that simply wasn’t possible in the Jim Crow South. Furthermore, at the film’s end (when Smoke is smoking the cigarette he received from the Klansman and following his fatal gunshot), he sacrifices his cigarette to reunite with Annie and their daughter in the afterlife. This symbolizes Smoke choosing to let go of his life on earth to be with the people he loves.Â
Although music and smoke are two prevalent themes in Sinners, they are by no means the only symbols in the film. In fact, Sinners is so jam-packed with rich storytelling that it may take multiple watches to fully catch every detail, symbol, theme, etc. Regardless, Sinners is a must-see theater experience that will keep audiences talking for a long time.