Ryan Coogler's ‘Sinners' Screens: “Mixed to Decent"

There was a test screening on Tuesday evening for Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners,” and unfortunately, I had a few people who went and waited 2+ hours. I was told that Warner Bros instilled a strict “demographic pull” for the film and only allowed in people who fit certain criteria in a line of 200+ people. What can you do.

With that said, one of the best people online to cover test screenings is The Critical Overlord, and his YouTube channel tends to get into in-depth detail on many upcoming films. He spoke to a few attendees who actually were one of the lucky few to see “Sinners.” The overall consensus is that it’s fine.

Firstly, the trades reporting that Michael B. Jordan plays twin vampire is FALSE. The actual plot has to do with twin brothers, Elijah and Elias (Jordan), who try to leave their troubles lives behind and head south, after spending years in Capone-inflicted Chicago. They return to their hometown, where slavery was recently abolished, but the KKK still looms large.

Jordan’s performance is being praised, and there’s a romance that sparks between one of the brothers with Haillee Steinfeld’s Mary (described as a “toxic love interest”). Meanwhile, the film heavily focuses on another character, Miles Canton’s Sammie, Elijah/Elias are his cousins. Sammie’s father tells him to follow the “path of God,” but there’s temptation to join the twins for a “life of sin.”

As far as KKK elements go, the vampires, who only appear in spurts throughout the film, might have a connection to the Klan. The ending is also going to “lead to a lot of controversy.” To add more would be to reveal too much, so we’ll leave it at that. Most of what Critical Overlord is hearing about the response to the film is that “it’s mixed to decent, at best.”

Coogler is the filmmaker behind “Black Panther,” “Frutivale Station,” and “Creed.” THR reported that he has franchise aspirations for “Sinners,” and we’ll see how that works out for him. He’s betting all of his chips on this film, and his frequent collaborator, Jordan, has tagged along for the ride.

“Sinners,” which wrapped production in early summer, is set to hit theaters on March 7, 2025. This is one hot project that sparked a bidding war in February and had Warner Bros finally landing the rights. The budget for the film is said to be around $90M.