By Dynaziah Hampton, ’27

Staff Writer

The movie Sinners, directed and produced by Ryan Coogler, became an instant hit after its 2025 release. It won multiple awards, including four Critics Choice, two Golden Globes, and two Grammys. It has been nominated for a record-breaking 16 Oscars including Best Picture, Director and Actor. The movie blew up for its plot, ambition, and unique blend of horror with history.

Sinners is set in the 1930s in the state of Mississippi, focusing on twin brothers played by Michael B. Jordan who return to their hometown and open a ‘Juke Joint’ with the aim of providing music, happiness, and community to the segregated town. What begins as an opening night of celebration turns into a fight for survival as the supernatural descends on the scene, and the movie dives into the themes of community, cultural identity and resilience.

The movie had the audience speculating about its true meaning, with different opinions surfacing on the Internet. Some viewers thought it was a spooky interpretation of how people of color survived under the Jim Crow laws; others thought it was a play on greed and the hunger for power. I think these are true, but I especially think this movie really matters because it reflects on Black history. This movie is an outline of what we should think about during Black History Month in February.

Celebrated since 1926, Black History Month is a chance to remember the history of people of color in the United States and their contributions to building our country despite oppression and racism. It is also a month to mourn those who were lost in the fight for equality, from the days of slavery to modern times.

Sinners shows scenes of people of color in their everyday lives, working mostly as sharecroppers, formerly enslaved Black farmers working the land for a share of what they grew, and often staying trapped in cycles of debt. Despite the end of slavery 60 years earlier, it was very hard to be free as a Black person at this time. The movie shows a time when laws aimed to restrict Black Americans’ freedom, known as Jim Crow laws, enforced racial segregation and kept Black communities apart from white society in nearly every part of daily life. It was a system that was totally unfair and made to keep Blacks from success.

The ‘Juke Joint’ is an important part in the movie. It represents more than just having fun, because it was a place where blues music – a genre created by Black Americans – allowed them to express their pain, hope, and struggle. In the Joint, they could share their stories and keep their culture alive. Through music and celebration, the ‘Juke Joint’ became a unique space where they could be their true selves and feel a sense of freedom, even if it was only for a night.

Another part of the movie that reflects history was the tension between Stack and a white woman named Mary. In the movie, there was an important scene where they were together, and Mary finally opened up to Stack that she never wanted to be married to a white man, and how she wanted to be with Stack. “I didn’t want no white man, I didn’t wanna be white, I wanted to be with you,” she said. This scene especially shows how hard it was for whites and Blacks to connect without judgement, and even harder to fall in love while you were different races.

Sinners connects past to present, and films like these definitely matter during Black History Month. It’s more than a horror film; it’s a reminder of what real people endured during the 1930s. Were the movie’s real villains the vampires that attacked the ‘Juke Joint’ or the injustices set by mostly white Americans to uphold their image while destroying lives of innocent people? These are things to remember not only during the month of February, but for everyday life.