“Sinners” – A sin if you haven’t seen it yet

Movie lovers have been blessed in 2025 with some fantastic films. There were superhero films like “The Fantastic Four" and "Superman” and horror movies like "HIM” and “Weapons.” 

Few movies this year have received as much love from both critics and fans as the movie “Sinners.” This love for the film set the record for the highest-grossing original movie of the 2020s, earning over $366 million at the box office. 

After watching the movie, it deserved every single dollar it got at the box office and should win several Oscars at the Academy Awards this year. It had phenomenal acting, beautiful cinematography, an amazing score and a gorgeous set design.  

The movie had a star-studded cast with Wunmi Mosaku, Delroy Lindo, Omar Benson Miller, Hailee Steinfeld and Michael B. Jordan. These actors created an immersive experience, drawing their audience into the film. 

Jordan played the two main roles in the film, the twin brothers Smoke and Stack. He creates these two very unique, different characters, with Smoke being the more level-headed twin and Stack being the most headstrong of the two. 

His portrayal of these two characters should at least have Jordan nominated for the Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role. He is not the only actor in this movie who should at least be nominated, though. 

Both Steinfeld and Mosaku should be nominated for best actress in a leading role and best supporting actress, respectively. Steinfeld plays Mary, the love interest of Stack, and Mosaku plays Annie, the love interest of Smoke. 

Their two portrayals help the characters feel like natural love interests for the twins, with Mary being as headstrong as Stack and Annie keeping a calmer head like Smoke. 

The other two nominations this film deserves are best cinematography and best director. Ryan Coogler, the director, showed off his creativity in every aspect of the film, from the writing to the camera shots. 

The cinematography in this movie produced some of the most gorgeous shots I have ever seen in cinematic history. One way Coogler does this is by playing with the aspect ratio of the camera throughout the film. 

The aspect ratio is how the film appears on the screen. Throughout the movie, the film goes from a full-screen ratio to a wider shot with black bars across the top and bottom of the screen. 

This helps create a more immersive experience for the audience as the full-screen shots help create the cinematic feeling of importance for a scene, while the wider shot makes the audience feel a part of the film. 

The aspect ratio is obvious in the movie at the fight scene towards the end of the film. When the characters turn their back to the camera and face the doors, the shot slowly leaves the wide view and expands to a full screen shot. 

Another beautiful aspect of the film's cinematography is that every camera shot feels like important information for the audience to see.  

A very creative shot in the movie is when Sammi, the cousin of Smoke and Stack, plays his song at the party. The camera then winds around the party. 

During this, the narrator explains how certain people can connect generations through music. The movie is set in 1932, but we see people from the 1500s and the 1990s dancing to Sammi’s tune. 

This beautiful camera shot ends with a close-up on Sammie’s face and the building around them burning to the ground, symbolizing the burning of the separate areas of death and the living.  

One of the most beautiful shots of the entire film is when a woman stabs her husband with a wooden stake because he turned into a vampire. While doing it, she catches fire, and they both die together. It is beautiful because when the camera cuts back to them, it does not look like she killed him, but they had died together. 

This scene perfectly captures the theme of the movie, which is the finality of death. No one wants to be turned into a vampire, but once they do, they are consumed with the need to live forever. 

Those who are not turned understand the beauty of death and how it frees them from this mortal plane. There are a few scenes that help illustrate this point.  

Annie was attacked by the vampires and began turning into one, but she begged Smoke to kill her because she did not want to leave her soul tethered to this world. Later, when Sammie is old, Stack and Mary visit him and offer to turn him into a vampire. 

He declines because he has lived a long and happy life with nothing left to do in this world. The message of the movie is clear. 

The beauty of the world is that everyone is equal in death. Those who walk on the earth forever are not blessed but cursed. 

This is the best movie released this year, with good odds of winning a lot of awards. This is a movie that everyone should watch because even if you don’t see the same message as I, you will watch one of the best films of all time.