Sinners, the 2025 mystical, horror, period and thriller movie which was written, directed and produced by the talented Ryan Coogler is a movie that explores deep aspects of African practices of divinity, spirituality, music and beliefs among the freed black people of America, descendants of slaves forcefully taken into captivity from Africa, the motherland.
The movie incorporates a hybrid of Southern Gothic, period supernatural horror, black culture, musical, and revisionist Western elements in its entirety. It stars Michael B. Jordan in dual roles of the Smokestack twins and co-stars Hailee Steinfeld, Miles Caton, Jack O'Connell, Wunmi Mosaku, Jayme Lawson, Omar Miller, and Delroy Lindo.
The theme shows great respect and recognition of the African identity of the blacks, how they still keep up with some ancestral beliefs in their daily living, balancing alongside Western religion and civilizations.
The chief portrayal of this is seen in the character of Annie( played by Wunmi Mosaku), Smoke's estranged wife and a Hoodoo practitioner. She could be best described as a Priestess of some sort to African gods.
The actor, who is of Yoruba origin from Nigeria, portrays her portrayal is accurately enough to have spoken Yoruba in the movie and made divinations that are similar to an Ifa priestess. As a hoodoo guru, her apartment is decorated and filled with herbs, amulets, leaves, incense smoke, charms, tarot cards, and many other items that show evidence of a diviner in the African traditional religion.
She is evidently the most spiritual person in the movie, ahead of even Pastor Moore. As a Priestess and wife, she gave her estranged husband an amulet necklace, which he always wore on his person. This is an African practice of wearing charms and protection when going out, especially on distant lands, with prayers being offered for safe return.
This amulet, which is a protective charm, alongside the many prayers and sacrifices she offers for her husband and his twin arguably gave the protection that sustained the Smokestack twins all through their criminal lives in Chicago.
As a Priestess, she provided her community with spiritual help and charms, evident in the two little girls who were sent by their mother to obtain charms for protection.
Annie is also a big and renowned cook, as well as a mixologist who makes the tastiest dishes and the best drinks in the movie. This is a homage to Ifa priestesses, who on major worship occasions and festivals are given the special responsibility of providing food and drinks for all participants. As a caterer of sorts, she handled the bar and food kitchen at Club Juke, which was popular and well-received among the patrons of the short-lived joint.
As the narrator in the movie, Annie gives an insight into griots, who are not just storytellers who tell folktales by the moonlight. They are prophets, who tell the future from the past, who keep the account of existence fresh in the hearts of every African.
The movie also displayed ancestral communication. It is an African belief that we each are incarnations of our past selves. Our ancestors who have long lived and died do get born again and live lives anew.
The character of Samuel “Preacherboy” Moore displayed this. As a musician with the acoustic guitar, his character was purportedly shown to be an incarnation of his African ancestors playing the Kora, which is a traditional African guitar. Likewise, his own offspring was shown playing a modern electric guitar, in the scene where he first played for the club.
Music was portrayed as a form of transcendental call, that summons spirits of both past and future to come to life and existence.
Our ancestors pass down our cultures and heritages to us through tales and stories, also through music. Griots again use music, hymns, and rhymes to tell tales that are eternal and true, as well as bringing them to living form.
It is important to see also that while many black people accepted the religion of their former slave masters, many however chose to devote to their ancestral methods of worship or practice a mixture of both. While many go to church every Sunday and read their Bibles, they still hold onto heart beliefs in spirits and gods. They hold charms, smoke herbs, mutter praises to spirits, and practice some customs that give credence to their ancestral gods. This is a common practice even in Africa today. While many accept Christianity or even Islam, they still keep up with many traditional religious practices of marriage, birth, settlement of disputes, sickness, burial, and many more.
Also, Apotropaics—items able to ward off vampires—are common in Sinners are of African folklore. Garlic, which is a spice used to ward off demons, was capable of causing harm to the vampires. Other apotropaics used include items, such as enchanted weapons, spikes, silver or holy water.
Also, the vampire could not enter the joint unless they were invited in by the owner; after the first invitation, they then carried on their onslaught.
Even as they entered the joint, certain spots were marked as sacred and consecrated grounds which they could not cross into.
The vampires were also very active at night; they were quite vulnerable to sunlight, which was why Smoke was able to defeat them by waiting until sunrise before killing Remmick with silver.
Sinners is a great movie that displays how black Americans combined their ancestral methods of worship alongside Western civilization.
