Sinners (2025)

The critic calls it a genre-defying, mind-bending fantasia overflowing with great performances, dancing vampires, and ideas about love and history. She singles out the blues musician's role as a time traveler connecting generations.

The critic praises the film's inventive fusion of historical epic, horror and action as a bold original idea in a sickly cinema landscape. They single out the electric genre-mashing and strong supporting cast for praise.

The critic calls it one of the most satisfying and fun blockbusters of the year, praising its blend of supernatural horror with political and historical themes. They single out the evocative atmosphere, strong performances and genre-bending story.

The critic finds Coogler's film an audacious epic packing multiple genres into one day in 1932 Mississippi, with stunning settings, stirring music and electric party scenes. The shift to pulpy vampire horror feels somewhat jarring and cumbersome after the rich world-building.

The critic describes it as a wildly original, defiantly weird and gorgeously made film that twists the vampire myth into something thematically dense. They single out the world-building, performances and idiosyncratic take on colonialist vampires.

The critic describes an ambitious melding of pop spectacle and serious intent that has much to say about race and class divisions, with expertly staged fright sequences. The picture is overstuffed at times but consistently engaging thanks to its pulpy action and thematic points.

It is a vibrant, richly acted portrait of a 1930s Deep South community that works more than it does not as a lavishly serious popcorn movie about the wages of sin in Black America. The critic singles out Michael B. Jordan's subtle dual performance and the community scenes for praise while noting it can feel overloaded.

Ryan Coogler follows his Black Panther success with an audacious genre mash-up of period gangster/vampire movie with musical flourishes. Amid the audacity of genres colliding as fangs find necks, it feels like a loss of nerve.

The critic calls it a sweltering, swaggering studio movie that is relentlessly entertaining while giving audiences plenty to chew on. It is described as a messy, muscular mash-up of historical drama, horror and action that delivers a righteous, rollicking good time.

Ryan Coogler’s film is a wild, untrammelled and thrillingly unpredictable sexy southern gothic horror and blues-infused vampire flick. Coogler’s assurance and vision holds the messy story threads together, with phenomenal 70mm visuals and a hot-headed, dangerous soundtrack.

The critic praises Coogler's ambitious, genre-blending horror film with strong performances, visuals, and music, calling it a unique experience that works despite its mix of elements. Praises the sensuality, cinematography, and music.

The critic finds the film bold and ambitious with deep reverence for the Black South and strong characters, but it misses greatness due to overambition, misshapen story, and failure as visceral horror. Praises the sensuality and celebration of the South.

Coogler remixes classic vampire tropes with fresh musical flair, group consciousness, and cultural commentary centered on spirituality and traditions. The result is a thrilling, fun, and scary roller-coaster ride that confirms his talent for reinventing genres in an original story.

The film is a heady, complicated movie with Jordan Peele-level ambition and subtext that holds together despite its abundance of tones and influences. It stands as a major swing for big-budget genre cinema and a deeply personal work, with strengths far outweighing its flaws.

Sinners is a bluesy Southern gothic nestled in late-night vampire pulp that serves as a love letter to both a form and a subject, devoted to building on its inspirations while keeping things funky, freaky, and entertaining. It is a stunning, entrancing, spooky work with rough edges but immense cultural resonance.

The critic views the film as a profound American tragedy exploring cultural appropriation, racial oppression, and the blues' roots through vampire mythology and historical context. It singles out the juke joint musical sequences and the reclamation of Black humanity and heritage for praise.

The critic praises Coogler's imaginative blend of blues, horror, and period drama, highlighting the standout musical sequences and Ludwig Göransson's score as the film's strongest elements. The final act is noted as uneven and stop-start, failing to fully integrate its disparate parts.

The critic calls it a devilishly entertaining period vampire movie/blues musical/Deep South gangster flick that marches to its own drum. He singles out Coogler's exceptional original filmmaking, the technically and performatively strong dual role for Jordan, the knockout musical score incorporating the African blues songbook, and standout turns from the ensemble cast including Miles Caton's sensational debut.