By Rohan Coleman
Bloodsuckers, brotherhood, and blues music all combine to create an emotional and passionate portrait of Mississippi in the 1930s in Ryan Coogler’s 2025 masterpiece, Sinners, which has just made history as the most nominated film in Oscars history. Released worldwide on April 16, 2025, Sinners was immediately met with widespread acclaim from critics and audiences alike.
Between the impeccable cast, rich cultural and mythological history, and an astonishing soundtrack, there was something for everybody in this film. Sinners features intense and action-packed horror sequences, with incredibly emotional and sensitive scenes wedged between as we get to meet the astounding ensemble that brings this film to life and injects so much energy, empathy and entertainment into every scene.
When twin brothers Smoke and Stack, both portrayed by the awe-inspiring Michael B. Jordan, return to the Mississippi Delta after years of working in rival Chicago gangs, they get started on setting up a Juke Joint, a space for black people to sing, dance, and drink as a community without any outside intervention. As we follow them around town we meet the very people they need to help set up the join – from Delroy Lindo’s Delta Slim, a wise and talented musician, the twins’ ex-partners portrayed by Wunmi Mosaku and Hailee Steinfeld, to their younger cousin Sammy, portrayed by the fantastic Miles Catton making his feature film debut, who is desperate to play the music his preacher father scolds him for. Everything goes to plan until a very strange, very sinister trio arrives to the Juke Joint, leaving everything Smoke and Stack thought they knew completely shattered.
This phenomenal film flexes superb performances from every actor involved, gorgeous visuals to compliment the emotionally expressive, complex and rich script written by director Ryan Coogler. Filled with beautiful characters, exciting horror sequences and a tremendous amount of talent, Sinners has it all – energetic music performances, serene characterisation and relationships, and layered explorations of America’s racial history and the role of music within it.
Coogler’s script is astoundingly rich, as he creates characters with real dynamics and real feelings that are brought straight from the page to the screen by the inspired cast. It’s a surprise to no one that this monumental film broke the record for most nominated film in Oscars history with 16 total nominations.
Since it’s April release, Sinners has been a constant in awards season discussions. 2025 had some strong contenders, with Sentimental Value, Hamnet and One Battle After Another among others battling it out across the various award shows this year. However, Sinners reigned supreme with a total of 16 nominations for the 98th Academy Awards.
Sinners completely dominated this year’s Oscars nominations, picking up nods in every major category, including Best Score, Best Original Song, Best Sound, Best Visual Effects, Best Editing, Best Casting, Best Cinematography, Best Production Design, and Best Makeup and Hairstyling. Writer and director Ryan Coogler picked up two nominations for Best Original Screenplay and Best Director, with the film also being in consideration for possibly the biggest category – Best Picture.
The phenomenal cast managed three individual nominations alongside its Best Casting nomination, with Wunmi Mosaku nominated for Best Supporting Actress, Delroy Lindo nominated for Best Supporting Actor, and of course, Michael B. Jordan nominated for Best Actor. All three of these performances are spectacular, each one filled with a mesmerising amount of empathy, passion and love. These characters are fully realised, both from Coogler’s script and the individual information added to each role by their respective actors.
Wunmi Mosaku’s Annie acts as an emotional centre point of the film, with her quiet calm concealing a spectacular mosaic of hurt, loss and love beneath it. As the film takes a dark turn, Annie is the protecter, as she’s aware of the threat long before anybody else and teaches them all how to survive. Mosaku informs her performance with an incredible security and responsibility, though we see the sensitivity and longing bubbling right underneath in this sensational performance.
Delroy Lindo’s portrayal of Delta Slim holds a similar expressive power throughout the film, acting as an older and wiser character within the blues community. Slim parallels Miles Catton’s exceptional Sammy, a younger character stepping into blues performance for the first time. The pair work against each other, showcasing the progression of the blues community in Mississippi while simultaneously highlighting the daily prejudices facing the black community living and working in this Jim Crow era southern American. This positioning demands a huge amount of emotional layering and history embedded in the character of Delta Slim, which Lindo delivers expertly.
Finally, Michael B. Jordan’s dual role of Smoke and Stack completely spotlights his dynamic and diverse acting abilities. These twins are completely dissimilar to each other, with Smoke being a much more stoic, brooding and closed off character than his playful, charismatic and charming brother Stack. Aside from these two different approaches, both characters have intense emotional arcs, each of which Jordan delivers astoundingly. His double-role is so impeccably crafted that it causes you to forget these characters are both played by the same person. Michael B. Jordan phones in not just one, but two Best Actor worthy performances.
Sinners didn’t just make history with its 16 monumental nominations, however, as two of its nominees made history themselves. Costume designer Ruth E. Carter became the most nominated black woman of all time with her nomination for Best Achievement in Costume Design for Sinners. This marks Carters 5th Oscar nomination in this category, the most nominations ever received by a black woman in any category thus far. Carter has received nominations for her previous work in costume design for Malcolm X (1992), Amistad (1997), Black Panther (2018) and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022).
She won Best Costume Design for her work on both Black Panther films, also directed by Ryan Coogler, which made her the first and only black woman to win two Academy Awards. This historic streak isn’t over yet, with Filipino-American cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw being the first woman of colour ever nominated for Best Cinematography. Having worked with director Ryan Coogler previously on both Black Panther films, as well as the critically acclaimed The Last Showgirl (2024) and Palo Alto (2013), Arkapaw has developed a visual language so striking it’s impossible to forget about. Her cinematography is simply breathtaking in Sinners, as she produces some of the most striking, evocative and expressive shots of the year.
Sinners is sure to take home an impressive amount of the awards it’s nominated for at the 98th Academy Awards, which will take place on March 16th , 2026. Sinners is available to stream in Ireland on Now TV, or to buy or rent on Apple TV.