What is it that we love so much about the cinema? Is it the big screen, the loudspeakers, the comfy seats? Or is it the true, unadulterated joy of watching a great film?
Studying Screen Cultures as part of my Film Studies degree has taught me a lot about how film is received and enjoyed by the general public, and what struck me the most is the apparent decline in visiting the cinema. In this relentless digital era of technology and streaming, going to the cinema is becoming less and less common for your average citizen. At least, that’s what I thought.
2025 has been an exceptional year for film, and for all genres too! Between Wes Anderson’s The Phoenician Scheme, James Gunn’s Superman, Jay Roach’s The Roses, and Zach Cregger’s Weapons, 2025 has blossomed cinematically, appealing to all audiences. Working in a cinema has taught me this first-hand, seeing an increase in admissions with each new release. One film that particularly stood out for me in this respect was Sinners, directed by Ryan Coogler.
Sinners was released on 18 April for us in the UK, and I was sitting and ready in the cinema with my popcorn on 19 April, with my mum, dad, and sister too! Trailers are, of course, a major way of promoting films, but so is word of mouth, and increasingly the use of online sites such as Letterboxd, where users can share their ratings and reviews of films. I hadn’t heard much about Sinners by this point, but the film quickly became everywhere after its release, and I mean everywhere. I’d say that Sinners was the first film of the year that really took the general public by storm. After a few weeks, almost everyone had seen it, from dedicated film lovers such as myself, to people both young and old who hadn’t been to the cinema in months or even years before this.
Set in the 1930s, the film begins as a drama, telling the story of WW1 veteran twins Elijah ‘Smoke’ and Elias ‘Stack’ Moore (Michael B. Jordan), upon their return to their hometown in Mississippi to set up a juke joint for the local Black community. The film takes an unexpected, sinister (pun intended) turn around the halfway mark, introducing Irish vampire Remmick (Jack O’Connell), who begins to wreak havoc on the juke joint’s opening night in pursuit of Samuel ‘Sammie’ Moore (Miles Caton) and his bewitching singing voice.
I won’t say much more about the film’s plot, but ultimately Sinners blends all sorts of genres: horror, musical, drama, and even fantasy, culminating in this hybrid brilliance whilst also celebrating Black History, giving a spotlight to emerging actors such as Miles Caton, and uplifting the beauty of brilliant filmmaking. Sinners is a unique and original film that made a name for itself and stood out amidst the heaps of sequels and remakes we see so frequently in cinema nowadays. The film earned a well-deserved $367 million at the box office and set in motion the revival of cinema-going in 2025, establishing the tone for the flurry of similarly successful releases of the year.