Sinners trailer Michael B. Jordan Ryan Coogler

Watch the trailer for Ryan Coogler’s Sinners, a horror film starring Michael B. Jordan as twins

We spoke with Coogler about his range of influences for this film, from his Deep South roots to contemporary horror classics and “deep cuts.”

Moving on from Black Panther and Creed, Ryan Coogler is back this spring with his fifth feature film and fifth collaboration with Michael B. Jordan: Sinners, an original horror thriller. Set for a release on April 18, the first trailer for Sinners dropped this week.

Trying to leave their troubled lives behind, twin brothers (Jordan) return to their hometown to start again, only to discover that an even greater evil is waiting to welcome them back.

Coogler not only directed Sinners but wrote the film’s screenplay. Speaking as part of a press conference this week, he explained how it was a personal project.

“I was fortunate enough to have a really, really close relationship with my Uncle James and the seed of this movie started with that relationship with my uncle,” says Coogler. “He would listen to blues music all the time. He would only talk about Mississippi when he was listening to that music. He had a profound effect on my life and I got a chance to dig into my own ancestral history with this film.”

Talking about some of the inspiration behind Sinners reveals the film’s genre-bending style. Coogler name-drops the Coen brothers, particularly Inside Llewyn Davis and Fargo. As the film is in part a horror film, it’s unsurprising that he also mentions From Dusk Till Dawn and The Faculty — he calls the latter his favourite horror film. 

“There’s a lot of (John Carpenter) in the film as well,” Coogler says. “Truthfully, the biggest influences are not in cinema. Salem’s Lot is a massive influence and there’s a real deep-cut influence, Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone and my favourite episode called ‘The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtleban’.”

The trailer for Sinners teases a period film infused with musical and horror elements. Shot on film and set to debut in IMAX, Sinners also counts Hailee Steinfeld, Delroy Lindo and Jack O’Connell among its cast.

Sinners trailer (directed Ryan Coogler)

Sinners will open in Montreal theatres on Friday, April 18.


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