Michael B. Jordan reunites with director Ryan Coogler for a blockbuster horror film heavy on the heebie-jeebies. This is the 1st trailer for Sinners.
In the Jim-Crow era American) south, Smoke (Michael B. Jordan) quietly remembers traumatic memories of burnings, fear, and horror imagery before springing into action by picking up a rifle.
In a flashback, Smoke and his twin brother (also Jordan) are suit-clad, working a mysterious hitman-esque job that involves the suspicious deaths of various folk. As the two return home, Smoke finds himself facing a “greater evil” than they could have ever imagined. The trailer intersperses the action with various shots of bloodied Smoke, occult-esque burnings, and townsfolk begging to be let into a barn stronghold to escape a dangerous evil outside.
The trailer ends with Smoke firing a machine gun at an unknown assailant, but it seems to have no effect.
Director Coogler has blossomed from indie drama darling to blockbuster extraordinaire over the past several years, able to imbue even the biggest canvasses with a palpable rush of emotion. After focusing on adrenaline and action in previous films (Black Panther, Creed, etc.), he seems to be trying his hand at pure old-school horror.
Despite the trailer offering few plot details beyond the setting and a vaguely supernatural force-of-nature type villain, Coogler’s frantic direction induces genuine panic and fear in the viewer. The epic scale of the trailer (notably filmed in IMAX) departs from other buzzy horror films, whose creepiness is rooted in their sheer intimacy. Coogler instead seems to be going for an occult force that threatens to swallow up the heroes in its power. The actors feel defenseless, like ants fleeing a colony in panic.
Common collaborator Jordan offers some of the most charismatic work of his career, loading both roles up with a heavy dose of machismo and vulnerability, respectively. If the final product matches the trailer’s frantic balls-to-the-wall tone, we could be in for one of 2025’s most insane blockbuster offerings.
Directed by Ryan Coogler, Sinners will release theatrically in the US on March 7, 2025. The movie stars an ensemble cast led by Michael B. Jordan.
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