There's an ancient myth that bluesman Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil in exchange for musical talent beyond his wildest dreams, but this Faustian deal isn't the only tale that contributed to the occult image of blues music. Its lyrical content – often dealing with death and sadness – coupled with its association to a ‘freer', non-conventional lifestyle meant the blues was quickly labelled ‘the devil's music', and it's a label that has nipped at the heels of blues musicians for more than 100 years. It's a rich, terrifying history that perfectly lends itself to the horror genre, and it's one explored in Ryan Coogler's first genre cinema offering, Sinners.

Starring Michael B Jordan as twins Smoke and Stack, the film takes place in 1932 Clarksdale, Mississippi, with the boys returning back to their small hometown with a bag full of money and dreams to start their own ‘juke joint', aka a blues bar. Smoke, the more business-minded of the two, insists on taking their time to set up the business, while Stack is insistent it opens that very same night, enlisting the help of their cousin Sammie (Miles Caton), alcoholic blues musician Delta Slim (Delroy Lindo), labourer Cornbread (Omar Benson Miller), and business owners Grace (Li Jun Li) and Bo Chow (Yao) to make it happen. Both Smoke and Stack are forced to confront their complicated pasts and love lives during the speedy renovation, which for Smoke, sees him reunite with medicine woman Annie (Wunmi Mosaku), and for Stack, clash with former flame Mary (Hailee Steinfeld) in the wake of her mother's death. Everything seems to go off without a hitch, with Sammie playing his first gig at the bar and attracting the attention of Pearline (Jayme Lawson). Pretty soon, however, their night goes awry when a trio of white musicians led by the charismatic Remmick (Jack O'Connell) become insistent on gaining entry to the black-owned and black-frequented business by any means necessary.

Sinners‘ cold open throws us straight into the terror, with a blood-soaked Sammie clutching the neck of a broken guitar while approaching his preacher father Jedidiah (Saul Williams) in front of his congregation, while Jedidiah asks him to renounce the blues. Cut to the first act, which hides Sinners‘ genre roots in favour of a complicated familial drama, helping the audience build a relationship with the eclectic, tight-knit community of Clarksdale. It effectively and powerfully shines a light on the racism experienced by black people at that time in America's Deep South – a horrific reminder that, in almost 100 years, racism is still alive and well across the world. The time spent bonding with these characters makes the opening night of the twins' bar feel electric, with energy pulsing through every sweat-drenched patron, soulful vocal, and hip-shaking guitar chord. It highlights the community blues music has fostered for decades, and the creative outlet it allows the troubled musicians sucked in by its call. The cinematography is so rich and intricate, you almost want to reach into the screen and experience the euphoria yourself until the atmosphere changes in a heartbeat with the arrival of Remmick and his stooges, Bert (Peter Dreimanis) and Joan (Lola Kirk).

With a spine-chilling performance from O'Connell, it isn't long before we realise something is desperately wrong as he infiltrates Bert and Joan's home and turns them into vampires, before being drawn to the juke bar by Sammie's singing. They perfectly personify the parasitic nature of slavery and white people's oppression of black people and the erasure of their culture and art through the decades, decimating the patrons of the bar as fast as they arrived. Much like iconic vampire flick From Dusk Til Dawn, Sinners‘ trajectory changes in an instant when Mary decides to scope the strangers out for the money the twins desperately need to make, with her changing and quickly gaining entry back inside, triggering the frenetic events of the evening. It's a full-blown assault to the eyes, with so much blood that the vampires turn the bar into a buffet, with Smoke and his motley crew leading the charge against the undead that are desperately trying to create ‘peace' by way of changing everyone into one of their own, with no distinguishing features.

Jordan's phenomenal turn as both Smoke and Stack is a performance that is sure to mark great things for the actor. It is often easy to forget that it is one actor playing both of these polar opposite characters, with barely perceptible nuances making them feel like fully fleshed out entities that clash, but have a bond like no other. Mosaku and Steinfeld are undeniably captivating as Annie and Mary, never blending into the background as Smoke and Stack's love interests but rather holding their own in the face of certain death. Newcomer Caton is simply magic, commanding each scene he is in in a manner that will surely propel the actor to greatness sooner rather than later.

With Nosferatu dominating the box office to kick off 2025, it's safe to say vampires are back in business, and Sinners is a heart-pumping, blood-splattered assault cinemagoers won't soon forget. Packed full of rich cinematography, an intricate backstory, believable and affable characters, and enough tension to have audiences on the edge of their cinema seats, Sinners is sure to be not just one of the best horror films of the year, but one of the best films full stop. It doesn't reinvent the wheel in terms of vampire cinema tropes, but Sinners offers a heart-racing, skin-crawling look at the spectrum of racism, the history of blues cinema, and the monsters within us all.

Sinners is released in UK cinemas on April 18

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