The symbolism and lessons of Coogler's Sinners

Tue, 07 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

On the surface, Ryan Coogler’s Sinners (2025) is just a decent vampire movie with a pretty sweet first half. And with some great music.

But take a bird’s eye view, dig in deeper and appreciate the symbolism, and that’s where it begins to stand out as a mythic masterpiece.

Before you continue reading, please be aware that this article contains plot spoilers. Stop reading if you haven’t seen the movie yet and wish to experience it without any spoilers.

There are many aspects of the movie that carry some significant symbolism, the way a great myth captures truths of the human heart and condition.

Here, I will only discuss two that I found profoundingly insightful: the symbolism of the vampires and the symbolism of the twins. I will conclude with some general lessons for today’s American citizen.

I. The symbolism of the vampires

My first moment of appreciating the movie’s symbolism was when the Irish vampires tried to convince the African Americans that joining them was the only way of actually achieving Dr. King’s dream, of experiencing fellowship with all regardless of color of skin.

There’s an element here of desperation, of giving up hope of ever achieving equality; joining the vampires is, of course, dying. It’s the ultimate loss of hope. It’s the ultimate rejection of Dr. King’s dream. It’s not only believing that Dr. King’s dream will never be realized, but it’s also believing that death is better than living life as an oppressed minority.

The vampires also represent colonialism, of white America feasting on the blood of black slaves, black soldiers, black culture, black athletes, and black music. The Irish vampire boss Remmick yearns for Sammie’s soulful music, for his spirit, because he has lost his. But by doing this, of course, he would also destroy and kill that very spirit.

Why Irish? They are probably the most recent group to become accepted as “white” even though they initially faced their own share of colonialism, exploitation, and discrimination as non-white. Their ticket for admittance into whitehood was at least partially bought by beating down on African Americans, just like the vampires do in the movie. The oppressed often end up becoming the oppressors. It’s the way vampires work: the oppressed die bitten, and resurrect as oppressors.

The way for every new immigrant group to become accepted into whitehood is to embrace the vampire mentality of whitehood: exploit all others, exploit the environment, exploit your own soul, renounce your caring heart, and stay away from the warming light of the sun.

II. The symbolism of the Twins

The twin leads, played skillfully by Michael B. Jordan, who won an Academy Award for his performance, represent the two equally bad choices that African descendants in America face and have faced throughout the centuries: either hold on to your values, your culture, your soul, and die fighting for your rights (Smoke), or assimilate, compromise, give in, and adopt the behavior of your oppressor and live, but only kind of live (Stack).

Smoke is the calm, rooted twin, and romantically involved with Annie, a bodacious and curvy black African healer who has maintained her Hoodoo religious practices, and cooks soulful food. Smoke does not die at the hands of vampires; he does not give in. He dies standing his ground defending his property from armed Klansmen, and meets his Annie and their daughter in heaven.

Stack, on the other hand, is an opportunistic hustler. His reaction to experiencing Sammie’s soulful music is not any kind of spiritual reveling. Instead, he pragmatically exclaims, “We gon' make some money!” Although he initially rejects the affections of Mary, a woman who could pass as white, he finally gives in. Ironically, that is the final straw that turns him into just another vampire. He lives, but only at night, and only kind of lives. He never rejoins the ancestors, and never will.

As a passing note, without further expounding on this too much, I will just mention that it’s no coincidence that Stack’s love interest is named Mary.

She represents the allure and mixed baggage of American Christianity. In some ways, Christianity has been a source of meaning and strength to the African American community. But in other ways, it’s also been used as a tool to justify their enslavement and their oppression. It reminds me of the great quote from Archbishop Desmond Tutu:

When the missionaries came to Africa they had the Bible and we had the land. They said 'Let us pray.' We closed our eyes. When we opened them we had the Bible and they had the land.

In the end, we see that Stack maintains his bond with Mary, despite losing his vitality to her.

III. General lessons for today’s American citizen

It’s easy to just stop and interpret the movie as a blend of love story - meets gangser movie - meets Southern gothic - meets vampire horror flic. As we’ve already seen above, there’s more than meets the eye.

I would argue that the symbolism of the twins does not in fact only apply to African Americans. It actually applies to every single American citizen, because we are all vulnerable to the vampire culture around us.

We all face choices everyday, choices that either help us express our soulful, loving, joyful heart that cherishes in opening to and healing others, in washing the feet of others, in feeding others. Choices that say, “I am because you are.”

Or, on the other side, choices that close ourselves to others, that feed our greed for more material wealth, that make us justify exploiting others for our gain. Choices that say, “Me me me” and “Greed is good.” Slavery, war, and corporate greed are but expressions of this same tendency, very strong in America.

Which one will we feed and allow to grow strong? Our caring heart, or our bottomless stomach?

Ryan Coogler | Vahid Dejwakh

The symbolism and lessons of Coogler's Sinners

I. The symbolism of the vampires

II. The symbolism of the Twins

III. General lessons for today’s American citizen