Sinners is one of the most popular films of the year and is a shoo-in for the movie of the year for many. For me, the music and cinematography are the film’s strong points, even though it is overall very good.
Sinners (2025) was a film that kind of came out of nowhere for a lot of people. It’s an original idea, so those are very hard to find nowadays. They are also hard to advertise for unless they start getting good reviews, which this film has definitely done. Sinners (2025) broke the top 10 rated R box office. It also became the highest-grossing original film in 15 years. All these are great feats to show that originality is important in films today.
A lot of people said online that it was a lot like From Dusk Till Dawn. I was worried that what they meant was that it was a carbon copy of that movie. But in fact, it’s a lot different than that movie. Even though it has some similarities, this movie is entirely original.
Beyond Sinners (2025) being so well-made, I really liked some of the things that director Ryan Coogler had to say about making it. He said he was inspired by the song “One” by Metallica. He said he wanted the movie to feel like a song, so he picked that one and ran with it. By doing that, he created a very interesting dynamic of how the film structure is.
In Sinners (2025), the even flow of it is really fun and keeps it entertaining. I don’t remember it dragging at any point. Where From Dusk Till Dawn added the vampire element at later points in the film, Sinners (2025) did a great job of implementing it early on, so it wouldn’t be as much of a shock later on. That’s important because the horror elements are still in the film early on and not just all at the end.
The film itself does juggle a lot of genres, which can be done, but it’s very hard to do. Many struggle to do this, especially when juggling horror with other genres. We see this a lot in horror comedies, and they end up not being scary because they lean too much on the comedy element.
But Sinners (2025) does very well in creating a horror film that has great drama and acting. Too many horror movies nowadays have horrible acting and horrible characters. Because of this, we don’t care if a character dies, so there’s no emotional weight to those scenes.
When it comes to horror movies, it’s most important for us to care about the characters, so when they are killed or in trouble on screen, we fear for them. In fact, in a lot of horror movies, we root for the killer because of how terribly written some of the characters are. So in this film, we really fall in love with a lot of the characters, so when stakes get high (no pun intended), we are more invested. And if a character dies, it feels very emotionally heavy.
Horror movies usually have great concepts, but as of late, a lot of them aren’t executed that well. Don’t get me wrong, horror is my favorite genre, and I’ll watch just about any movie that’s horror, but when it comes to making something long-lasting, you need characters to be invested in.
Sinners (2025) could’ve become a TV miniseries with how great the characters were and how much we wanted to see them. I doubt they’ll ever make a sequel because of how it ends, but I think they easily could. A lot of the characters are so unique, and I want to see more of them. The film could easily have been another 30 minutes long, and I would’ve still enjoyed it.
Another great factor of the film is how great the music is. It shows the importance of music in a film and the importance of having good music. You don’t need to have a popular song to sell tickets; you need music that’s pertinent to the film. In this film, they use the classic blues. I’m a big Blues fan, and seeing that classic blues style play on the big screen was awesome. It made you feel like you were right there in that Jim Crow era.
They also got Lars Ulrich from Metallica to play drums on a few songs, as well as Jerry Cantrell from Alice In Chains to do a song for the film. They are two of my favorite musicians, so I was definitely in love with that.
The cinematography in Sinners (2025) was incredible. They used IMAX cameras, so some scenes looked a lot bigger than what they would’ve been on a white screen. When watching at home, you’ll notice that some scenes fit the screen and some don’t; the ones that fit the screen are IMAX. Those scenes are usually big and grand. From someone who has grown up in the South, you really get to see the beautiful scenery.
I am very glad to see an original movie do so well in today’s landscape. Maybe a couple studios will take note and take chances on more original screenplays instead of rehashing the same stories and IPs over and over.
It also shows the horror that can be done, and in a more serious light. We don’t have to do the same style over and over. The problem with a lot of modern horrors is that they aren’t willing to take it seriously and do something different. But this would definitely do that and create a new landscape for vampire films in general.
I thought Abigail, which was another vampire film that came out recently, was fun and entertaining. Beyond that, I can’t recall a vampire horror film that’s been good in forever. Sinners (2025) might be one of the best vampire movies I’ve ever seen. There could possibly be a resurgence because of how great this film was.
They came out with new ideas while still using some of the old ones. I was glad that they were able to still keep the classic garlic, steak, and holy water tropes. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that, and it’s also a great way to pay tribute to the classics. They added some new vampire rules, which were fun as well.
They also did a great job with the look of the vampires. I absolutely love to see their eyes glow in the dark. The scenes of them in the dark, and all you see are their eyes, were breathtaking. It was genuinely pretty scary as well when they were all out in the field, and there were hundreds of them with their glowing eyes.
Hopefully, some films can take inspiration from Sinners (2025) and keep the vampire films rolling and keep that serious tone as well, even though I still enjoy non-serious ones as well, like Marvel’s Blade. Vampires are growing in popularity in video games, so it makes sense that films would catch on. It’s such a shame that more horror films don’t try to be more serious, as Sinners (2025) proved that it can make a ton of money.
