About

Sinners is a horror-thriller film directed by Ryan Coogler and starring Michael B. Jordan in a double role. The movie, released on April 18th, 2025, is set in 1932 Mississippi, and follows twin brothers as they attempt to open a juke joint, only to encounter a strange supernatural threat. The film received generally positive audience and critical reviews and spawned a series of memes online in April 2025. Some internet users criticized the movie industry's response to the film, with actor Ben Stiller being one of many to push back against a controversial Variety article that undersold the film's box office earnings.

History

​Sinners is a 2025 American Southern Gothic horror film written, directed and produced by Ryan Coogler. Released on April 18th, 2025, the film is set in 1932 Mississippi and stars Michael B. Jordan in dual roles as twin brothers Smoke and Stack. The film follows the brothers as they return home to open a juke joint and encounter a supernatural threat. The ensemble cast includes Hailee Steinfeld, Jack O'Connell, Wunmi Mosaku, Jayme Lawson, Omar Benson Miller and Delroy Lindo.^[1]

The first trailer was released by Warner Bros. on its official YouTube^[2][3] channel on September 24th, 2024, followed by a second trailer on January 28th, 2025. The videos gathered over 17 million and 21 million views, respectively, in roughly three months.

Reception

​Sinners opened to critical acclaim and strong audience reception. It earned $48 million domestically and $63.5 million worldwide during its debut weekend, marking the highest opening for an original film since Nope in 2022.^[4] The film gathered a 98 percent "Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes^[5] and a Metacritic^[6] rating of 84. Critics praised Michael B. Jordan's dual performance and Ryan Coogler's direction, with Peter Travers of ABC News^[7] calling it "Coogler and Jordan’s best and most daring work yet."

Online Reactions

Several internet users reacted to Sinners soon after its release, with X^[8] user @SailorSammy93 tweeting, "WHEN YOU SEE SINNERS AT THE MOVIES THIS WEEKEND STAY FOR THE END CREDITS!!! DO NOT LEAVE RIGHT AWAY!!!" The April 18th, 2025, post gathered over 90,000 likes in four days.

On April 19th, X^[9] user @dazedlewis tweeted a GIF from the film that shows Michael B. Jordan as Smoke trying to roll a cigarette. The post read, "one detail in sinners that i cannot get over is the fact that smoke can’t roll his own cigarettes," and gathered over 78,000 likes in three days.

On April 20th, Redditor /u/Traditional_Maybe_80 shared an article to the subreddit /r/FauxMoi^[14] discussing how some Hollywood executives were made uneasy by Ryan Coogler's contract for Sinners, which gave him final say in the film's editing, gave him a percentage of the film's earnings as opposed to the studio's profits, and gave him the rights to his film after 25 years. The post gathered over 2,000 upvotes in two days. Redditor /u/Bullingdon1973 made a similar post to the subreddit^[15] /r/movies, gathering over 12,000 upvotes in the same timeframe.

On April 21st, 2025, X^[16] user @Shutabug posted a painting inspired by a scene from Sinners, writing, "Saw Sinners yesterday and this scene in particular had me enchanted. Couldn’t wait to go back home to paint it." The post gathered over 18,000 likes in a day.

Variety Box Office Performance Tweet Controversy

A tweet posted by the entertainment magazine Variety covering Sinners and its box office performance during its global debut garnered some controversy after the film's release.

On April 20th, 2025, Variety tweeted a blurb from an article^[10] written by staff writer Rebecca Rubin, writing, "'Sinners' has amassed $61 million in its global debut. It's a great result for an original, R-rated horror film, yet the Warner Bros. release has a $90 million price tag before global marketing expenses, so profitability remains a ways away."

Hollywood actor and director Ben Stiller^[11] quoted the post, tweeting, "In what universe does a 60 million dollar opening for an original studio movie warrant this headline?" and gathering over 300,000 likes in two days. The tweet was reposted to the subreddit /r/boxoffice,^[13] where it gathered over 9,000 upvotes in two days.

Also on April 20th, X^[12] user @philly_drugs shared a GIF of Henry Cavill getting ready to fight, writing, "Variety when it’s time to slander minorities." The post gathered over 50,000 likes in two days.

Search Interest

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External References