REVIEW: 'Sinners' Is The Freshest Vampire Movie In Years But Does It Meet The Hype?

Trying to leave their troubled lives behind, twin brothers return to their hometown to start again, only to discover that an even greater evil is waiting to welcome them back.

There aren't many movies to come out in the last year or so to have as much hype as 'Sinners' has gathered. Over the last month and change, every outlet has called it the best movie of the year and one of the best in recent memory. This is all to say that my expectations were very high going into the movie. 

Is it one of the best movies of the year? YES. Does it meet the hype as one of the best movies of the best of the last few years? I think that's more debatable than critics are making it seem. However, that's not really a negative on the movie and I'll explain why as we go. 

'Sinners' faces a bit of an uphill battle for one simple reason: The Vampire genre has been ground into the dirt over the last few decades. Seriously, how many vampire movies and shows have we seen? 5 new ones every year? Even last year, 'Nosferatu' was one of the top movies on the year. So when audiences have seen a million different versions of vampires, how do you make them feel fresh? Well, Ryan Coogler found a way. By incorporating music, shared memory and the period of oppression for Black, Irish and Chinese people, he made a pretty damn fresh feel for the vamps. 

On the technical end, most everything works. Like I said, music is central to the plot and you can see Ludwig Göransson's fingerprints all over it. He is the biggest rising star in the movie composing world, collaborating with Coogler on 'Black Panther', and 'Creed', Christopher Nolan for 'Oppenheimer' and Favreau for 'The Mandalorian'. He scored this movie and was an executive producer and every music sequence rocks. The production value is great, really immersing you in the time period and location. The vamps are also scary as shit, using a cool eye effect similar to Balthazar from 'Constantine'. I think the only technical complaint I would have is that it sags a bit in the middle. First act is great setup and the third act is absolutely killer but I felt the drag. 

On the acting end, most of the cast crushes it. Delroy Lindo, who I think is one of the best working actors right now, is a powerhouse alongside a rising star in Wunmi Mosaku. Michael B. Jordan is fantastic at being cool/badass as hell but struggles a bit in the "looking scared" moments. Miles Caton also struggles a little but makes up for it by having one of the best voices I've heard in a long time. Lastly, Hailee Steinfeld is great in kind of a dual performance and Jack O'Connell is a terrifying villain. 

Overall, it is one of the best movies of 2025. It's fresh, scary, sexy and generally great across the board. It's not perfect, but that is not the movie's fault but the critics. And, to be clear, this is not a bad thing. We're talking about the difference between a 95/100 and 99/100. Both really good scores. 

This is a movie very much worth seeing in theaters and the IMAX format added a lot to the experience. Don't go with your parents (lots of sex stuff) but it's a really good date movie.