REVIEW: Sinners

By Kassadi H. & Alex O.

The movie Sinners, released on April 18, 2025, remains fresh on the minds of AHS students, especially since it recently hit streaming services and is a good film to watch during the spooky season.  Furthermore, it shows different themes of identity and the different challenges of growing up looking or feeling different, which many students at AHS can relate to. The movie Sinners starts off as something showing the struggles as a person of color in 1930’s Mississippi and slowly turns into a horror movie about vampires trying to lure everyone out of their dance hall. We  feel as though Sinners is an amazing movie and they would recommend it to all of the people around them. 

First and foremost, the movie Sinners shows how just because you may look different than everyone else you can be judged for being the way that you are . Looking different from everyone else can cause you to be judged in ways that you couldn't imagine. This is something that appears in the movie through people being judged and treated differently all because of the color of their skin. It's a really sad concept to think about but people often judge people just because of the way that they look; a lot of people like to judge a book by its color but at the end of the day we all bleed the same color. Other themes and life lessons emerge through the film as well.  For instance, it shows the struggle, hurt, and pain of being a person of color throughout that time period; it also shows how money and power can get you very far in life. Definitely watch the film if you want to learn about acceptance of diversity and the pain it causes others who are discriminated against.  

Secondly, Sinners is a good movie because it begins as something showing life in 1930s Mississippi and slowly turns into a vampire horror film. It starts off as Smoke and Stack wanting to open a juke hall for the people to have a good time and grab a couple drinks. Stack and Smoke open their juke hall and later on into the movie a group of people show up trying to lure people outside of the dance hall trying to turn them into the vampires they are. The reason that turning into a horror film makes the move better is because it adds a lot of suspense to the film.

Finally, the ending of Sinners is retaliatory, justice-oriented, and therefore satisfactory. At the end of Sinners it ends with one of the brothers Stack killing off the vampires and the KKK, then dying in a very heroic way After Smoke tragically passes from the KKK gunfire he gets a final comforting view of his wife and children. Stack stands up for his brother Smoke being turned into a vampire which is something that made him highly upset so he felt as though he had to get his vengeance and go off and get payback for his brother. Revenge stories are satisfying because they tap into deep emotional instincts about justice, balance, and power.  Furthermore, the ending shows how family will always be something that people deeply care about and the majority of people will do anything they can in return for their families. 

We asked Mrs. Warner how she felt about the movie and treated us with a very detailed response.  She stated, “The music is powerful — the blues feels like a prayer and a warning all at once. The movie dives into faith, temptation, and how easy it is to let pride open the door to evil. It’s not all blood and ghosts — it’s about the sins people hide and the price they pay for them. The cinematography is stunning, the acting is raw, and the story stays with you. Sinners make you think long after it’s over — about good, evil, and the space in between. I would definitely recommend this movie. If you want to know how it all ends — you’ll just have to watch it yourself, you won’t regret it.” Mrs. Warner’s response shows that even teachers feel as though Sinners is an amazing movie overall for all ages. 

We also asked one of our school counselors, Mrs. Jackson, how she felt about the movie as well. She stated, “I loved it! I was skeptical at first because scary movies are not my thing, but the movie wasn't scary at all and I enjoyed it from start to finish. So glad I went to see it!” 

In summary, the movie Sinners is overall an amazing movie and we rate it an 8. We see why so many people of all ages took the time to go and see this movie. You can be taught a lot of life lessons throughout the movie and it can give you a different perspective on many things. You can currently watch this movie on the streaming services HBO Max and Disney+.