I’m sorry, what!? Warner Brothers are trying to get on Black folks’ good side with this one. It’s been a while since a trailer has hit with the same impact as the ones from the early 2000s. You know, back when the trailer didn’t feel the need to spoon-feed you the whole damn plot in two minutes? Either way, Sinners has us all leaning in and wanting to know what could possibly require the use of two entire Michael B. Jordans in prohibition-era attire.
If there was a checklist of things to get people jazzed, this trailer goes the extra mile. Matter of fact, let’s see what gets brought to the table here. This trailer has…
*checks notes*
More Oscar and Golden Globe wins and nominations than you can shake a stick at? Check.
Ryan Coogler writing? Check. Getting back on his pen game after the last few years (needfully and rightfully) grieving Chadwick Boseman.
Ryan Coogler directing? Check. Bringing his unique and particular vision behind the camera to the horror genre? Hyped.
Not one, but two Michael B. Jordan characters rocking suits and shooting off drums of tommy gun ammo? Check. At this point, I feel like there’s a clause in his rider since Creed that ensures there’s at least one scene where he shows off his arms.
Wunmi Mosako getting the bag and popping out for some more supernatural horror vibes after doing it big in the MCU? Check. This woman can act the house down, I cannot wait to see what she does here.
Delroy Lindo in the mix!? The legend himself lending his gravitas to the Black film excellence that is about to be this movie!? Check. Hopefully, he busts out that dance from Da Five Bloods unnecessarily.
Hailee Steinfeld as the talented diversity hire? Check. She only pops up in this trailer for a second, and she’s giving ‘southern belle that is really into Division One ball players’. Very excited to see what wrinkle her character brings to the movie. Steinfeld always brings one-hundred percent of herself to every role.
For my cinephiles, DoP Autumn Durald Arkapaw, production designer Hannah Beachler, editor Michael P. Shawver, composer Ludwig Göransson, and costume designer Ruth E. Carter back?!? Coogler brought out the Black Panther production team? Check.
Outside of this very appealing and perfectly mysterious trailer, there’s a draw to Sinners that transcends the nature of a trailer. Typically, Black horror is centered around the relationship of the Black experience to whiteness. Where the white status quo is the source and subject of terror for Black people. On the flip side of that, it looks like Sinners is giving us Black horror alongside Black spirituality – centering on how this community approaches the coming evil. In the trailer, we see imagery invoking both Black Christianity and African-American herbalism. That alone tells me attention to detail and cultural competency are going to be leveraged to scare the hell out of audiences.
It has the feel and texture of episode three of Lovecraft Country with an air of Eve’s Bayou and the trailer does well to keep to the imagination. I don’t know about y’all, but I’m sold on it. Sinners drops in theaters March 7th, 2025. Let’s run the numbers up on this one.
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