"Sinners" Brand-New Trailer: Michael B. Jordan Plays Twin Brothers Caught in a Southern Gothic Horror Nightmare from Black Panther Filmmaker Ryan Coogler
In this Prohibition-era horror, Ryan Coogler explores sin, survival, and supernatural vengeance as Michael B. Jordan takes on dual roles in a Deep South tale dripping with blood, sweat, and secrets.
If you think about it, Sinners is a provocative title for what seemingly appears to be a vampire horror flick set against the backdrop of the Prohibition-era South. A time of deep racial and socioeconomic divide, where the struggling working poor—particularly people of color—faced harsh punishment for circumstances far beyond their control. With massive inequalities of race and class, both poor whites and Blacks suffered under economic hardship, forced to scrounge for money, sometimes stepping over the line of the law to get it.
Which begs the question: who are the real sinners in a world where sin is not only in high demand but also the most profitable commodity of its time? And how does someone avoid sin when society already sees them as a sinner?
Now, we don’t know if filmmaker Ryan Coogler will be diving into these underlying themes or what exactly he has in store for us with his upcoming horror thriller Sinners. But given his previous work—Black Panther, Creed, and Fruitvale Station—Coogler isn’t a filmmaker who shies away from thought-provoking subtext, nor is he one to focus solely on the surface of the stories he tells.
Sinners might be a swampy, sexy Southern Gothic vampire thriller with enough scares to satisfy genre fans. But knowing what Coogler is capable of, we expect it to be all that and much more. We anticipate a story with deeper layers—one that explores not just why sin is so destructive and damaging to the soul, but why we’re so drawn to it—especially in our most desperate moments.
With tickets now available for presale, Warner Bros. has dropped a brand-new trailer for Coogler’s eagerly anticipated horror thriller that, to be honest, is being billed as a vampire tale—but stays deliberately vague about what these “evil sinners” actually are. The movie could just as easily be dealing with demons… or the Devil himself.
In it, Coogler once again teams up with superstar Michael B. Jordan, who takes on the dual roles of twin brothers, Elijah and Elias Smoke.
(Now, there was a rumor that Coogler originally planned to cast Jordan alongside Jonathan Majors as the brothers, but after Majors’ public scandal, he shifted gears and went with the “twins” angle instead.)
Nevertheless, Jordan plays both Elijah and Elias—twin brothers who’ve just returned home after a stint working up north, operating within the criminal underworld as illegal smugglers and enforcers. Now, with blood money in hand, the Smoke brothers are looking to leave their criminal past behind and open a speakeasy dance hall in a local barn. And no matter your race, creed, or color, you’re welcome to spend your money at their joint—just expect to “drink and sweat till y’all stink.”
The problem is, if the party gets too good, it might attract the wrong kind of element—a type of partygoer looking to raise a little hell... and maybe a little more than that.
After spending the better part of a decade at Marvel, Sinners marks Coogler’s first original film project since his 2013 debut, Fruitvale Station. It also serves as his first foray into the horror genre, reportedly secured through a unique deal with Warner Bros. that allows Coogler to regain certain ownership rights to the film after a set period of time.
With Michael B. Jordan in the lead, he’s backed up by a stellar supporting cast that includes Jack O’Connell (SAS: Rogue Heroes), Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit), Delroy Lindo (Da 5 Bloods), Jayme Lawson (The Woman King), Wunmi Mosaku (Lovecraft Country), Omar Benson Miller (Ballers), Li Jun Li (Babylon), and Lola Kirke (Mozart in the Jungle).
Sinners opens in theaters April 18th. The film, shot with IMAX cameras, will also have a wide release in IMAX theaters as well.
You can also check out this newly-released film clip from Sinners, below:
