Sinners is a 2025 film directed by Ryan Coogler and starring Michael B. Jordan. It centers around twins, Stack and Smoke, who open a juke joint in Mississippi after spending some time in Chicago as mob enforcers. It takes a violent turn with vampires taking over the scene. They also explore survival, racism and trauma.

The theme that Coogler wanted to express with directing is the perseverance of Black culture against historical and systemic oppression, with the twist of vampires in the storyline. Sinners is not just about two brothers opening their own juke joint, but more of a metaphor for black joy and culture. It’s two brothers who are protecting a juke joint from the evils of the South, which mirrors the real-world defense of Black spaces against the ‘monsters’ in history.

Coogler’s perspective of how the vampires represent the evils of America’s history. They show how historical oppression has drained the resources and lives of Black communities in the South ruled by Jim Crow.

The 2026 Oscars was aired on March 15, 2026. It featured many movies of 2025 but highlighted a major film that moved the cinematic world. Sinners earned 16 nominations and won four Oscars, Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography, and Best Original Score.

In the past, there were only five Black actors who have won Best Actor: Sidney Poitier (1964), Denzel Washington (2002), Jamie Foxx (2005), Forest Whitaker (2007), Will Smith (2022). Michael B. Jordan has made history by becoming the 6th winner of Best Actor for his role as Stack and Smoke in Sinners.

Ryan Coogler’s Sinners is a groundbreaking blueprint for future filmmakers. Coogler has opened the doors for new storytelling–one where our history is not just a textbook chapter, but a relevant, terrifying cinematic universe. These ‘monsters’ of history may still exist, but as Stack and Smoke showed us, we now have the scripts and the screens to fight oppression.