The Reel Rejects - SINNERS (2025) LIVES UP TO THEY HYPE!! MOVIE REVIEW!!

Episode Date: June 3, 2025

THE BEST FILM OF 2025??? Sinners Full Reaction Watch Along:   / thereelrejects   Visit https://www.liquidiv.com & use Promo Code: REJECTS to get 20% off your first order. Sinners Reaction, Recap, Commentary, Analysis, & Spoiler Review!! Join Aaron Alexander, Andrew Gordon & John Humphrey as they sink into Ryan Coogler’s 2025 Southern Gothic vampire saga Sinners. Set in 1932 Mississippi, the film follows World War I veteran twins Smoke Moore and Stack Moore (Michael B. Jordan, Black Panther, Without Remorse) returning to Clarksdale to open a juke joint funded by stolen mob cash. Alongside them are aspiring guitarist Sammie Moore (Miles Caton, The Chosen One), who believes his blues music can channel spirits, and pianist Delta Slim (Hailee Steinfeld, Hawkeye, The Edge of Seventeen), whose transcendent performance at opening night summons both ancestral ghosts and a horde of vampires led by Irish-immigrant Remmick (Jack O’Connell, Unbroken, Godless). Tune in as our hosts unpack every electrifying blues-summoning scene, visceral vampire kill, and the moral weight of family, faith, and sacrifice that make Sinners a standout in 2025’s horror landscape! Follow Aaron On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/therealaaronalexander/?hl=en Follow Andrew Gordon on Socials:  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MovieSource Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/agor711/?hl=en Twitter:  https://twitter.com/Agor711 Intense Suspense by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... Support The Channel By Getting Some REEL REJECTS Apparel! https://www.rejectnationshop.com/ Follow Us On Socials:  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reelrejects/  Tik-Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@reelrejects?lang=en Twitter: https://x.com/reelrejects Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheReelRejects/ Music Used In Ad:  Hat the Jazz by Twin Musicom is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Happy Alley by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... POWERED BY @GFUEL Visit https://gfuel.ly/3wD5Ygo and use code REJECTNATION for 20% off select tubs!! Head Editor: https://www.instagram.com/praperhq/?hl=en Co-Editor: Greg Alba Co-Editor: John Humphrey Music In Video: Airport Lounge - Disco Ultralounge by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Ask Us A QUESTION On CAMEO: https://www.cameo.com/thereelrejects Follow TheReelRejects On FACEBOOK, TWITTER, & INSTAGRAM:  FB:  https://www.facebook.com/TheReelRejects/ INSTAGRAM:  https://www.instagram.com/reelrejects/ TWITTER:  https://twitter.com/thereelrejects Follow GREG ON INSTAGRAM & TWITTER: INSTAGRAM:  https://www.instagram.com/thegregalba/ TWITTER:  https://twitter.com/thegregalba Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Yeah Without further A due You guys Ready to watch The Cinnars Let's go Let's get it

That was probably the... I mean, I mean, recently by the society, that was probably the best mid-credit scene I've ever seen. Just also how extended it was, too. Well, like, yeah,

it's a real part of the story. Yeah. You know, it's not just either a joke or an ad. Yeah, yeah, for sure. That's shade the fun you can have with the joke or an ad. There was a payoff there in that mid-credits

as opposed to, again, we love set up for another, you know, if it's a franchise or, you know, part of a universe, of course, but I'm so anxious to see what the post-credit scene is. I know, man. That was a beautiful.

That was a phenomenal film. Vampires invade Wakanda. Uh-oh. I want to know more about those Native American vampire hunters. Those dudes were sick. I was like, give me a spin-off about those dudes. Oh, my God. I almost forgot.

I'd be down for that. And the way they, like, skirted out the second that conversation didn't pan out, and they're like, once they saw the sun was getting close, they were like, peace. I'm flabbergasted. That was. That was something, man. That's going to be interesting. You know, it's rare.

It's rare we see movies, like, live up to the hype. But I was like, I don't know why it was hype, but I get it. And now I'm hyped. And I'm excited to see it again. I was going to say, you get to see it again tonight. And after seeing, like, being. getting processed with so much new information now you like fully know what to expect and like the hype lived up it's like oh my god anything you didn't pick up the first time now you're

going to catch the second time so it's going to be a fascinating and fun experience for the second time like it's a theme i feel like this is a thematically dense movie and i'm i'm excited to unpack it yeah well now yeah you can spend the second viewing like a vibing now that you know what's coming, but be picking out little details, all the little illusions and things, you know. Exactly. All the visual symbolism that may have flown the first time. Oh, my God.

I'm very excited to watch this on a big screen. Oh, dude, same. Like, it's weird. Like, this was one where I was like, I know the video is going to be fun as hell and I'm looking forward to doing it on the video, but like, also cannot wait for the theater. Oh, dude.

This absolutely looks like, you know, a cinema experience. And like, they shot it on film. So it gives it that extra bit of, you know, cinematic flavor. Yeah. Yeah. No, I get why the people I've seen who I know, people in my life who don't go to the movies like that, not only saw this in theaters, but saw I've seen this two, three times. I'm like, yeah, this is. This is special.

It really is. Special. Thanks, Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan. Yeah, there you go. He must have. I think he said, like, he talked to him a bunch about doing the IMAX and stuff. stuff. The way they were able to seamlessly transition with the aspect ratio to

that was just like insane and so smooth. Yeah. They must have mapped that out early on and go like, okay, we know we're going to switch Dymax on this shot. So we'll add the bars and then we'll pull them back to match whatever game before. And then whenever it's coming after. That is so well done. What do we got in story here?

There's a third brother. Yes. before all the I showed us a small clip of this in the actual film This guy's an immaculate voice, man With the man cook And this is before the events of the movie

Because he doesn't have a scar Yeah, yeah, exactly And also he hasn't left the church to damn what a choice that's so great well done and yeah like he must have drilled that like tirelessly because to get that level of of freedom where it's clear that you're just in tune and you're just feeling the music and you're not really it didn't look like he was thinking too hard about it which is what you want you know yeah that was a real performances then that was man god dang we just watched sinners

Yeah, we did. My bodies is over-stimulated, but in the best way. Thank you so much to the people. Prepper for cutting down these highlights for listening on Apple or Spotify. Make sure to go and give us five stars. Also, leave a like. Leave a comment. Make sure to ring that bell.

Oh, that was good. I like it. Let's go. I like it. That was good. Thank you. Thank you. Smooth. All right.

Do we have any, I'm just curious. I don't think so. Yeah, usually we do patron questions, but this is a freshie. I don't know. I'll double check, but I don't think we have them right now. Okay. If we drop something in, you'll know. Okay.

You know, if you don't know, now you know. Okay, well, well, he's searching. He's searching. Before we get into the full feelings. You had to say, like, in a word, how you're feeling before you get into your full thoughts? Amaze. That was just an incredible experience. I'm so sad I didn't get to see it in theaters, but obviously I'm going to at some point soon.

But I'm so glad I got to experience it and share my feelings while I was experiencing with you guys and with you guys as well. That was such an incredible ride. That was a very long one word. John, how are you feeling? Overrated. I could have made this movie in my sleep. No, this is amazing. I mean, what's a good, interesting word?

This was soulful in a word, I suppose. Like, there was so much to everything. And this is incredible. This is really well done. Like, this is really satisfying as a movie for movie going, but also it's like a film. It's a movie and a film. You know, it's like there's plenty of history and there's plenty of culture and there's plenty of artistry and craftsmanship and it's a full ensemble like this feels like one of those

things where like every department is like throwing their A game and getting creative and yeah this is like super watchable I would imagine for any audience but if you're trying to unpack it and dig a little deeper there's plenty there like you said there's there's a lot of density even though it is so easy to watch and so fun and yeah yeah this is special oh man specials maybe that we're all go for is special special yeah a special movie and not just because of his deals for to get the rights back yeah that's that's awesome I love that he I think like 10 years or 25 years he owns the movie outright and he's also getting he doesn't have to wait to get money off of the profits so like since this movie came out he's been collecting oh I didn't even know

go my man go you have how many billion dollar movies have you made most of them if not of them except for his first movie get a piece of that pie yeah no seriously oh all right to spend extended full thoughts andrusif how you feeling man i feel and come out of centers i mean like john said this was so over it no i i i really really loved it had everything i i love in a movie it was emotional it was dramatic and also too was able to balance that with a horror aspect as well but the characters were so rich and you know it it did this great thing of built i mean what every great horror film should do as well it built up tension throughout the film like it gave us that early going in the beginning with

letting us know like uh with sammy you know he's clearly gone through a crazy ass night and they keep us little hints and flashes of it to let us know what we're kind of getting into here and i love how we just again we're slowly building up but it's building through characters and we just get so invested pretty much with everyone and I think this film does such a great job with the fantastic dialogue right away you know who everyone is

what they are about and what they have gone through in the past and just right away it's so snappy so quick the dialogue it's so good and again I just right away in the first like 10 seconds of each scene

I just got so invested in each character whether I love them or I hate it them. Yeah. And that's what a good film does. And I wasn't even thinking about the horror aspect stuff that was to come. Like, I think you guys said it best. Like, even if we didn't have that, I was glad we did, obviously, because it just added to the incredible film we were already watching. But even if we didn't have that and you just would have stayed locked in on this stuff, it was already so damn compelling and riveting already. I was like, I'm, this is great. Yeah. But now you add that aspect. It's such a, it's such an interesting contrast. But it's so,

so well balanced with the tones that it works so smooth and so seamlessly. This is so far. I know it's recently biased. I don't give a shit. This is my favorite movie of the year so far. We're halfway through the year. You haven't seen a lot of movies in theaters.

Right. I mean, it's no Minecraft movie. I mean, it's hard to be Steve's chicken lava song or whatever. If Jack Black had showed up and improvised some scat singing. Yeah, yeah.

Then it would be perfect movie. Hard to compete with that. But yeah. And the way the vampires were used in this film, I mean, we've seen vampires done. And there's a lot of films where I love the way vampires are used in that film. But the way they're used in this film, like, I really was scared shitless. I mean, I know I get scared easily, so it's not really saying much. But my heart was legit racing all film when the vampires runs me.

Delroy Lindo shit himself too. Good company. That's just that life was great. Again, the dialogue is so damn good. I seriously, I mean, I mean, I'm. not going to get my hopes up because when that happens i get really pissed off when it comes to the oscars and i'm just glad we got this incredible film this film really deserves to have a lot of damn nominations if it doesn't i'm i'm really kind of be fucking pissed seriously and this happens

a lot and aaron knows this where i've said like this should have been nominated that should have been nominated and aaron has to hear it a lot i will go through the freaking roof if a lot of shit does not get nominated in this film particularly yeah those are my initial thoughts agree Donald. Oh, man, this was, a few people found me when this came out and they were like, dude, this movie, this is for you. This is exactly for you. And, you know, obviously there's a cultural element that does not apply to me directly.

But I love the way that this, as we've already kind of started talking about, like this, yeah, unfolded really naturally and really gradually and it drew you into everyone and everything on screen before the horror shit even hit. And I love horror shit. I love vampire stuff. And I love from Dust Till Dawn, which I like this is... I love that movie, too. It's cool to see something like this because this is

you, there's a lot of from Dust Till Dawn in here. And yet, it's not in a way that's like, it's not even directly going, see, we're homaging that. It's just like you've got these brothers who are on the raw dubious relation to the law. And, you know, one way or another,

they wind up at this music establishment and then all hell breaks loose. And even though in this movie, you have a better sense that, like, the vampire stuff is coming. If you didn't see a trailer, you wouldn't know,

or you might not know, aside from the flash forwards that some bag going to happen. But, like, you know, I love the way they draw you in, and I love the way that music was really, like, a main character in this piece and the way that, yeah,

throughout so much of it, there is music present either, diogenetically, as they say, on screen being played or just as a flavor continuing to compliment moments. They knew when to pull the music out. And yeah, there's so much history and culture tied up in music. And certainly there's the appropriation of music and there's the stuff that the vampires get into. That's sort of like, I want to take your songs and your stories and, you know, sing them for

myself essentially. We're all going to sing them as a hive mind together. You know, we're going to, you know, homogenize this culture right here. but like the communal aspects as well and the spiritual aspects and the way that yeah like like it recently in my own life I have discovered the sort of immense catharsis of being in a big room full of people with some music going and everyone kind of you know getting into that zone together and like that is one of the most transcendental kind of life immediate experiences you know I feel like you you can have among you know there are many ways to achieve that i feel like communal communing over music is one and you know no matter what i feel like it's relatable to have you know this people trying to set up a place where we can all go and take a load off and have some fun and enjoy again the the things to be relished in about life like that's a really universal thing

and so just this idea that these two guys want to go legit they want to make this juke joint and you know do something come back home do something for their own community and to you know really have a place of our own so to speak for us by us is like a beautiful you know hook for this and then yeah the the various kinds of celebration and music and even the ways religion plays in the whole superstition from sammy with his father the pastor you know being sort of forewarned about this life of temptation and the evils that await outside and then on the opposite end you have Wunmi Musaku who has all this knowledge of you know I don't know if it's voodoo specifically but you know those more witchy kinds of practices and beliefs and the way all of those are peppered into

and tied into again the communal and communicative qualities of music and having both the blues as well as this strong Irish music element and this weird acknowledgement of the fact that like in different ways at the crossroads of like American culture you have both black folks and impoverished folks who have come over from Ireland who's had their own problems with being colonized and had religions forced on them and all that stuff and like the I like this is a movie

I am very excited to go see again partly so I can chew and and kind of bounce off of what history I remember remember that I need to clearly brush up. Like every one of these historically set movies has me going like, man, I need to go brush up on this time period, that time period and get the, and I love when a movie inspires you to want to do that while also, yeah, having all these wonderful, entertaining elements. And it was such a good ensemble piece, too. Like, everybody on screen was interesting to watch. And here in hindsight, I'm like, it's wicked impressive the way they pulled this off because there's so many scenes where you have two Michaels B. Jordan. Like,

There's a lot of times where you're in the early parts cutting back and forth between them in separate locations. But once we get to the juke joint, there's a lot of stuff whereas the two of them in shots incidentally and you're like, how much harder was this than it looked to pull off? Yeah, just such a flavorful experience. I'm sure there's more stuff to say.

I've already rambled too long. Arun, how you feeling? What are your thoughts? All right, Reject Nation, Summers here in between workouts, filming, traveling, stain hydrated has never felt more important. actually get really excited to talk about these guys because i use them every single day yes i've mentioned it in several videos at the start of this year i weighed 218 i basically dropped about 42 pounds thus far starting january 25th and if there's one thing i've learned during this entire fitness journey

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So no matter what summer brings, tear-poor, live more. You can go to liquid iv.com and get 20% off your first order with code rejects at checkout. That's 20% off with code rejects at liquid ivy.com. Thank you again, Liquid Ivy for sponsoring this video and making my day to day so much better. And, uh, yeah. God. Um, I am, I don't know, I'm just floored.

I'm, uh, that's the one word. inspired. I'm in thought. I'm processing. I'm feeling a lot. You know, it's rare to have an experience that is something you feel beyond the immediacy of what you're watching. Granted, it does happen with film all the time, but specifically with this movie, this was something special that I'm happy I got to experience in front of you guys with you guys with you guys and the fact that everyone damn near everyone in my life was telling me to watch this movie was excited about this movie my own mother was watched this in theaters and wanted to see it a second time right well she never does my mom hates watching movies multiple times and so that was a true a testament so

you know waiting these months movie actually came out the day before my birthday um and you know thank thank you it's been a couple months removed but thank you april 18th is i'm gonna guess is when it came out cougler knew that's right we got to get this out for aaron yeah so that he can wait two months to watch um but even even in that right um and and you know being asked us how to wait for this reaction and now having seen why um yeah i'm i'm i'm floored by just the the creativity on display, the usage of these themes that they explore with, you know, the relationship, with religion, with cultural appropriation, with the celebration of black joy, all those things in culmination with one another to

create this type of movie, which feels, I don't know, like, omni genre and no genre at the same time, like, I don't think you can clearly call it a horror movie. I don't think you can clearly call it a drama. I don't think you can clearly call it a comedy, but it has all of these things kind of come together over the course of the film to make an experience that is wholly satisfying and rewarding, coupled with phenomenal acting performances, amazing camera work, amazing editing, editing that subverse your expectations with how it's going to play out even with the camera work allowing it to be alive and also the scene that moved me the most was the elevation and celebration of culture and music in the juke joint

the culture scene you wrote culture scene great that's what it is in the blue ray chapters that's right culture scene culture i had to write something quick i didn't want to lose visually what i was watching that was a beautiful moment that was an amazing amazing scene. That's one that stood out to me the most. Yeah. And I'm so happy that, you know, I was able to, for the most part, keep my, my knowledge of the movie at a minimum, you know, I saw, I think I saw the trailer one time.

So, sadly, the only thing that I'm sad, the trailer ruined was the fact that Haley Steinfeld was going to turn to a vampire. Yeah. Because I remember the trailer being like, we're going to kill every last one of you. I was like, all right, well, no, she's a vampire now. Yeah. Right. But even to go to your point of saying that, it's like, from dusk till dawn, I'm.

I would have to disagree on that. I think that as there flourishes of like, okay, it starts off about one story and then the second half of the movie is about this other thing that involves vampire, sure. But I feel like this movie and over the course of it, there's a narrative and tonal through line. Even when the tone shifts, there are these things that are established early on. Plus, the movie doesn't hide what it's going to be about later on with the beginning because it shows you flashed. of the vampire shows that he's disheveled he has a scar in his face whereas from rest to gone they have this like kind of shift that's like very jarring and surprising that's part of the hook of the the movie but the appeal of the movie that that jarring tonal shift and there's like

a lot of like uh pervertedness and and and um darkness in that movie and i feel like this movie is a lot about the celebration and then the fighting back in not only in the sense that the vampires are about you know literally sucking their blood but but sucking their culture absorbing their culture yeah for the sake of unity you know where like the we're all just people man but we are one we're all one but in that there comes a sense of erasure of culture and I feel like there should be this appreciation um of individual cultures without you know um erasing them through the sense of unity because I feel like that doesn't really accomplish anything and I don't

think it's good for for anyone but allowing the uniqueness uh to be shared amongst each other I think that's where um where you know where unity should come from and I think that that's again it's just one of the themes of of this movie but also about relationships about about brotherhood um about family and I and community as well like the the initial hook for me was the specificity not only with putting together an event but also the environment we were inhabiting with Mississippi with the time period and him teaching this young black girl how to negotiate so she's going to get played over in the world and that coming back later in the film like all of that stuff was amazing for me so yeah this movie was was one I'm I'm happy

exist I want to like thank Ryan Coogler for creating a film like this because I because you You know, he's made four films up to this point. I want, look, Fruitvale Station, Black Panther, One, two. This is his fifth film. And this is the first one that's not either an adaptation of a comic book, a spinoff, or the retelling of somebody's life events. This is a wholly original film.

And I really appreciated him now proving himself as a director, having the freedom to craft a film that is wholly original with the budget of a blockbuster film and then allowing him to tell this culturally enriched story where most of the time you i don't think you'd be able to tell a story like this without the the budget that was allotted for them to do it coupled with you know putting culture on display and i feel like you know even though i hadn't seen anything um or i hadn't seen any specific spoiler details about the movie there's one like you know when you're on social media like you kind of try to scroll past stuff so you don't get spoiled but one thing I think I heard somebody say to me or

I can remember if somebody told me this or I saw in a video but I feel like Jordan Peel when he makes movies about like the the beware the evil whites or is this one is not about that it's like coming to get you but um at least with get out but this is more about a celebration of blackness and celebration of culture than it specifically is about the racist you know so I like that this film like kind of

had a different lens on that and I just really appreciated it a lot yeah and I'm excited to see what Ryan Cooney does next I'm excited to analyze and absorb this film a little bit more and I like that it put a light on like a side of history we really

don't see too often especially within you know big Hollywood films. I was going to say, was the mound by you, I wonder, a real place. Because like I remember

when Watchmen, the show came out and it hipped a bunch of people to the, the Tulsa. The Tulsa, yeah, riots and stuff like that.

And, you know, I wonder if this is a similar instance of an actual historical place, you know? Yeah, that's a good point.

A good question. Yeah. Yeah, man. just the community aspect of it really touched me and that scene just watching all of the different things and that starts as an elevation and then it turns into an amalgamation of culture because I feel like on paper that's a really hard scene to pull off but the way that they were able to seamlessly accomplish that while also keeping it all in the same shot and not how to feel out of place was a feat that I'd be curious to learn about the

production of that scene. Absolutely. And the way that film, the way that shot ended with it being the whole jukebox being completely burned down and then cornbread just like saying they're like nothing was happening while they're still just dancing. So damn well executed. It was the house down. Yeah, it was visually one of the best just shots scenes I've ever seen. It was just incredible. One is that thing of like this could exist anywhere. It's like there's the, you know, we're having a good time motif of like the roof is on fire and all that stuff. Set the roof on fire. blow the roof off the joint but like yeah in having it be that you're seeing this act this communal act you know here's all the different skins that it wears but it's all the same kind of thing and you

burn the walls down to kind of emphasize that like yeah it could be anywhere we could do this anywhere you know anywhere we can create music together as a place we could dance and find joy and and share this and this happens to be our place today but it could be anywhere and also then from that outside POV from the darkness looking at this one little isolated location. You also see all the potential bodies and stuff like that. Like it's just a rich sequence and it's also shot in a way that feels like it could have all been achieved authentically with just, you know, fly in those turntables real quick and now go in here.

And then while we're in this room, we'll set up some shit in this room. And yeah, like the way that, you know, you have a lot of, again, you know, you had like the guy on the electric guitar. you had some like break dancers and stuff like that. You also had a couple like traditional Chinese dancers and stuff like that too, which, you know, at least proportionally because, you know, again, those are, I feel like the intermingling of cultures who are not on the, you know, who did not have like the upper hand throughout early American history especially is interesting. I don't feel like it gets touched on. I'm sure there are movies that do that I just need to watch. But it doesn't feel as though it is touched on quite as much because obviously.

obviously slavery and what the black community has gone through over the history of America is its own kind of special definitive blend of terribleness. But, you know, it's like Chinese immigrants, Irish immigrants, even Italian immigrants, like have all had a version of having to scrape and be, you know, look down upon or aggressively, you know, maimed and various things abused by folks in power. often white folks in power. And so to see at least that community and have at least a little bit of like,

oh yeah, the Chinese folks from the shop, they're going to come over too, because they're probably, you know, even though their experience is different, they're probably having more of a similar experience to you than they are to like the guy who just sold you this freaking mill. Right. You know, and so like to, yeah,

just to touch on, to pay homage broadly, was nice. And like the firm dust till down thing, I think, yeah, it's like this has a number of surface level detail. tales that are clearly like, oh, yeah, you could, you could easily, like, bounce this off from Dust Till Dawn. It's, it's in there. But not at all to give the credit for this movie to that, because the thing is, you might

make it through this movie never thinking of that, because this movie is doing so much of its own stuff, and it's, and it is diving way deeper. Like, from Dust Till Don is a really fun movie. I really enjoy it, but it is pulp, you know, it is about two criminals and sexy vampires and a lot of blood and stuff. And, like, yeah, there's a preacher and things like that. And not to say there are no themes. uh we're good uh sorry about that but um but yeah like it's it's cool to see something that that shares

in that continuum of vampire stories and you know has that again easily kind of identifiable surface level thing but in a time and place where we do a lot of that it's cool to see something reminiscent of another piece that is going so far beyond what that piece was to to to do what homageing is truly supposed to do. Like, I don't know if this is in any way intentionally homageing that movie. I have to imagine he's seen it. There's some of that in the soup.

But no, like, not to say like, oh, this is just that, because absolutely not. And, like, the other thing is, I love the way that this used vampire mythos in particular, as we have a lot of that too. And, you know, watching them dance around and they finally explicitly arrive at it, but watching them sort of build up the whole, like,

oh, they got to be invited in thing. Watching as characters try to cleverly get people to invite them in was a nice touch or that bit where he's trying to persuade them. And it is really seductive. He's like, you know, he's speaking to the fact that we have this shared trauma and it's not going to hurt anymore. And what we want to do is be together. We can have heaven on earth. You can join us. All this pain will stop.

And we don't have to be subject to this, you know, horrible mistreatment by the, the, the racists that we're surrounded by. And in that moment, you're kind of like, damn, though, he's making a good boy. Maybe if we do all join this, we can, you know, dance every night and not have to worry about these earthly stresses. But it's also not real. And it's also not to be trusted.

And the whole, like, eating a bulb of garlic thing, reminiscent of the thing. I was thinking that, yeah. You know, was a great touch. Like, again, bringing in all those little different vampire details. You got your steaks and stuff like that. And some things factor in more than other. but like in the tradition of vampire stories this also you know kind of nicely uses the tropes

adds to and twists the tropes like yeah it's it's there's so much to say about a movie like this no seriously i also want to speak to you know outside of it being a a largely a entirely you know um black experience but from the perspective of being an artist you know the him playing the guitar and what that represented for him that's that's freedom for him that is embracing his true desires and you know him being told to put it down after just experiencing someone trying to incorporate his his culture his freedom and the way he expresses his love of his culture by trying to have it join like a hive mind it was representative of freedom of his identity and how he needed to express that for himself and for the

world he's not he's going to do that even in the face of something like vampiric danger because he is that he he is nothing without his guitar and and the way that that allows his sense of freedom and his personal responsibility to bring that joy to the world stop him and I really appreciated that also just kind of to speak to what you were saying a little bit I liked there was still a sense of individuality and a part of them that were still them, even in the face of them, kind of joining this hive-minded kind of culture of vampires because Haley Steinfield's character, when Hannah was going to die, she was like, no! And I was like, oh, that was interesting. I didn't expect that because I wasn't sure if it was like, okay, this is actually them or this is them utilizing the memories of. of the people that were there and it's actually a demon, but maybe it's like somewhere in the middle.

But it seemed like it's still them at the end. Just, you know, they have this thirst for blood. So I really appreciate Ryan Coogler's take on vampires. Yeah. No, they definitely gave, that's what I wrote down here. They gave the vampires a lot of depth. Which I feel like we... A lot of presence.

Yeah, for sure. Because like to see that reaction, it's like, that is definitely something I've not really seen because usually it's like, we just go for blood. Doesn't matter who it is. because we're not the same person we used to be anymore. To like to see that visceral reaction when... Was it Anna? Was that the character's name?

Whatever. Yeah, whatever. But to see that reaction... What? I think it was Mary. I'm sorry. You're probably right. You are probably right.

But to see that reaction from Haley Steinfeld's character when that happened, like I think, again, that adds a nuance and a level of depth to the vampires. and like to see that they do want to have that hive mind and that family and the level of closeness because she did say about Haley Steinfeld that we are family and she knew too that that was going to be like the hook line and sinker too to having the other was it Mary or Mary Mary Mary my bad sorry my bad no that was my fault I'm the one who said it oh Mary's Haley Steinfield and then we're talking about Annie is it Annie?

It had to be a little higher up. These are by order of appearance. Oh, then maybe it was Annie. Young girl and Annie shop. Yeah, it's Annie. We're talking about Annie. Because Mary, we're not, we're talking about Mary's reaction to Annie being.

Sure. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Annie. Sophie said Anna. Annie. Yeah. So, yeah, no, I thought that was fascinating. And then, too, I think it goes to show the level of depth in regards to the vampires.

Like, because I said during the making, credit scene, wow, that's very fascinating that, was it Stack, right? The one that, yeah, it was Stack, the one that was in the mid-credit scene, that he would honor that agreement that he did with his brother where he said, like, to stay away from

Sammy like that. Whereas usually vampires, they don't have like an honor code or anything. It's just, they usually just bite, no questions asked next victim. So, like, again, I like that Ryan Coogler inserted that. And I thought that like it was very fascinating and just like it adds some uh like i said earlier it adds some nuance

and just some levels of of depth that i've never seen with vampires before and like and it begs the question that aaron asked like are they still in there because i know that annie kind of said like it's like their soul is trapped in there with all this either this hate or something like that but it's like it turns all your appetites on to maximum right right you're just a uh it's like in Osferatu. It's that thing of, I am an appetite. It's your lust. It's your hunger. It's your, you know, desire of all variety.

Yeah. But the fact that he was still willing to honor the, and still had that love for his brother, even after being turned like that, and like, damn, that is deep. I really appreciate and I love their back and forth that we were seeing, too, seeing the, I mean, besides you having the symbolism of the color

difference in their hats, seeing them work back and forth, and that was such impressive work by Michael B. Jordan, because we obviously know he's just one actor doing two different roles i love the back and forth in their interactions they are so damn good with each other like you see one's a little little more level-headed when it comes to at least the business side of it and one's just more of a little more of a hot head but i love the the the way they interact with each other it's so freaking good i was like i'm so on board with these two like differences in their accents and their stature and how they carry themselves

yeah and and right away the way they were flexing because i made mention of the movie and again totally different time period so it's hard to make the comparison when you got 2025 to 1991 in regards to double impact you can so tell whenever there's a split screen understandable for the time but like here now hey man we just watched not long ago the parent trap and then had a bunch of flex shots of like look how we're doing it yeah we put someone in the middle of frame ain't no split screen here after rewatch that one's been a long time but the way that the way they were able to hand off to each other like that I'm like it looks legit.

He's handing it off to his twin brother. So really impressive stuff. And also to what you were saying earlier, I stayed away from all trailers, which I'm so happy about. Unfortunately, it must have been an image or something I was scrolling by not on purpose or anything, but I saw that Haley

Seinfeld was a vampire. I'm like, God dang it. I didn't want to see that, but I think of a lot of, one thing I've noticed about vampire movies in particular is I'm always like, damn it. I get why, but I wish the trailer wouldn't. Yeah.

And there are a lot of movies that seem like you need to use the vampires to sell this and it would help if you didn't like a different kind of movie but like Abigail's like that where you're like,

oh man, if I didn't know this was a vampire, if they didn't lead with this is a vampire movie then this would hit a lot harder. Yeah. And not that this is any of the word, like the thing about something like this

and how I cope with spoilers generally is that if the piece is good enough and it's firing on enough cylinders, it'll still work. It'll still be effective. And like here, the movie was good enough

at pulling me in at every moment to the point where I wasn't even really thinking about that stuff, even though, yeah, you know Haley Steinfeld's gonna turn. I liked that when you meet her, I'm like, oh, I didn't quite clock this.

I didn't, what I expected this character to be like is not actually what I'm getting. And so it's more intriguing, more nuance now because she's got this interesting backstory with her, what is it,

her grandpa's half black or something like that. And so she's like... A quarter black. She's 16th black. Yeah. And so like she's got this slight, but you know at the time significant, you know, a genetic connection here, even though she's white, you know, like, for all intents and purposes to the world around her, she is white.

And like, I think in an environment like this, you're innately called to be like, I don't know if I trust you. But like, before she's turned, she actually does seem like a pretty aboveboard character. That's a great point because just from that image, I would have thought when the film, just in my own mind, I pictured in my own mind that when the film started, she was already a vampire and then it was going to happen.

But then when the, then like meeting her character, I just thought she was someone that Stack had banged. And that was their whole history. And then learning more about her like, no, her mom actually like delivered them like, oh crap,

they have this whole back history to get. This is fascinating. And like she actually really cares about both of them. And how she wants to be. with him and he's like that's a bad idea for a lot of reasons. Right, right. Like, I'm trying to protect you. And he genuinely cares about her and that's why he's staying away from her.

I'm like, oh my God, this is heartbreaking. And now they are free in a messed up way because they have to be vampires to be free and that's kind of beautiful. It's beautiful, but it sucks that that's the way they have to be free is all I'm saying. Like they're, they're like in their natural born killers bag at the end of the movie. And

part of me is like, I don't kind of watch that. I don't watch this. I would watch this spinoff with the two of them living through the centuries. I would watch, like, how their lives must have changed over all this time, too. I would watch that spinoff, first victim being her husband, but then I would also watch the spinoff of the Indians hunting down the vampires as well. Yeah, I need that spin off. Those native hunters were so cool. And like, that is, like, I don't know if this will ever become a question. But if ever anyone's like, what's like a one scene detail in a movie that

you wish could be expanded into like a whole movie? That one. Those dudes looked sick. amazing. I never associated the Native Americans and vampires and like, yeah, I need that. Well, that's the thing is she's mentioning hates and stuff like that, which I'm sure comes from some other, you know, system of supernatural, spiritual

belief. And it's like every culture has versions of these things. And so, yeah, for you know, I'm sure if we spent time with those Native American characters, they would give you the whole kind of rundown of how the legend exists in, you know,

it's been passed down through their lens. Yeah. Yeah. I like how rich this movie is and it's history and the things they tell you about. And you get a lot of subtext about the things that happened that predate this movie that you feel through their performances, which I really appreciated because I was like, I want to know about their life in Chicago. What was going on out there?

They, they betrayed Al Capone and they took money from both sides. I want to see that heist. There's so many different things I could have watched a whole movie about for sure. Yeah. Yeah. And also, too, the movie knew what to show and what to tell. Like, for instance, that scene with Delroy Linda, when he said he knew all those guys. Yeah, he was phenomenal.

Everyone was phenomenal, but especially. When he was describing what those guys had been through and they weren't showing us, but we could hear it in the, what's that term you described again? It was the first time I'd ever heard that term. Oh, like the non-diagetic sound. Oh, is that what you said? Well, you specifically said a term when I was describing like, oh, it's like we're getting an audio sound right now. I forgot what you said. But whatever it was, I love that they inserted the audio right there.

I'm like, I don't need to see it, but just hearing it is like my mind is already creating like the what I'm visually thinking in my mind. And I'm like, that was so damn effective right there. It's a subtle transition. Because, yeah, it's like it starts with music. And then it's like, oh, it's score music that just compliments the tone he's talking about. And then, yeah, it becomes, you know, you hear screaming. and other things and yeah you hear I love that's something that a lot of things do but in particular what struck me about watching the haunting of Hillhouse is there are so

many scenes where characters are just describing a trauma or or some kind of intense supernatural and or just life-threatening experience and for the most part in that show you're just zooming in on an actor giving a monologue and they don't even do the sound thing that this does I don't think. But like this, I love when that choice is made because it's all on the actor. And again, you got to have a good actor here. Incredibly capable veteran actor, Deloilando. Like, yeah, to play it all in that character's face and to just see how the retelling is making them feel speaks often louder than doing the flashback.

Yeah. Because then if we do the flashback, it feels like we need to give you some information. Whereas like if you give it as a monologue and you treat it like, again, a performance piece. like yeah you're still giving information but it draws you in in a different way and it puts you in it puts you closer to the perspective you know because like we're told stories by each other all the time and we don't flash to the actual images and so like yeah in a place like this I thought that was a really clever and and lovely and restrained choice like there's a lot of great tempering across this movie and two like I really like that there are a number of like little

surprises that you wouldn't see coming because like yeah them be being sold the barn, the mill, and that whole thing about like, well, there's no clan around here. And then come to find the vampire guy, that whole thing he says about like, I came to the right place at the right time. They planned, they always planned to come ambush you and massacre all of you at this place of joy that you've just tried to build, you know, and here I am to help stop it, you know, with my vampirely wiles.

And then sure enough, at the end, they do show up and you get a very satisfying turn of those tables. and then and then you think, oh, smoke let his brother, you know, smoke out, live to the end. You know, he is, he and Sammy make it out and that's the end of the story. And yeah, like he might, you know, die right after, but he makes it through. And, you know, you kind of get your lone survivor-ish moment, but then cut to a few minutes later mid-credits. And actually, no, the other brother got to live, live in a sense. and now that like the sire is gone now that props to that actor too whoever remick jack o'connell

this is the first thing i know i've seen him in and uh his presence was great and uh and i wonder if maybe in the lore like because he is now dead they are a little more free to their own devices yeah that's what i was thinking yeah and uh and uh just uh the vampire flourishes too i thought were really nice because they gradually set in, you know, when you first see Remick in form, he's just got the teeth and the blood all over his mouth and the glowy red eyes. But, you know, the further we get into the night, his fingers are going all Nosphiratu. And then by the end, he's got the big, like, monster half grin face, you know, like it looked really monstrous and gross and creaturely in a really fun way.

And that's another part of the charm of any vampire thing is seeing how the filmmakers put their own spin on it. And I thought the spin they put here was really cool. And then, too, just also the gore gags were good. Like, the blood gags were solid. And people, like, burning alive and stuff like that. Really striking stuff. I think my favorite shot, at least with the vampires, was one you didn't really even see of them.

It's when Cornbread was taking a piss. Oh, yeah. It was terrifying. Going out in the dark, like. And juxtapose with the fireflies. Because you're like, wait, it's a firefly. Oh, shit. Yeah.

That was so good. but yeah and no continue oh sorry i was i was just going to say i think the way they they were able to blend practical and cg i in regards to to the way the the vampires were able to look and move so damn good i can't say enough about this film it was such an experience and i'm so grateful for it i'd love this movie so much same one last question before we get into trivia and wrap it up but i remember you got really excited when the silver part of the guitar into the head i thought silver was a thing for uh For werewolves, is the thing for vampires, too? Silver, I think, in the lore, yeah, it's like vampire, wherewolves have the whole silver bullet thing. Silver bullets. I think in vampire lore, it's not like, it's an agitator, you know? I feel like in, yeah, it'll like, you know, burn or irritate the skin, you know,

steak through the heart is still like the classic, that'll kill him or sunlight, that'll kill him. But like silver certainly will slow him down or be some kind of a detriment anyway. there's a yeah strong motif for both mythical creature and one last thing too i will say like while it was you can make an argument was very frustrating while grace did say to let them in i think they wrote in a good way of letting the vampires in because she's thinking about her child like what mother wouldn't want to help her child in that situation it was emotionally manipulative and that's again where i think cougler gave the vampires a depth like able to get her to do that like oh they tried all the nice ways are doing, okay, let's go this route

of, hey, we're going to take your child out. So that's where I'm speaking to the depth of the vampires. Well, and selling it when he speaks Chinese to her, and that's a good piece of proof to like, oh, some extra, some extra natural shit is happening here.

For sure. For sure. Now, that was great. Because, like, when you do them, like, okay, I can fully buy that this woman, even though it's not the smartest decision, I can understand as a parent why she would do that to want to save her child. And in the situation where you're like,

I don't know how much these barn walls are going to hold us, really. You know, I feel like I could, it's weird, yeah, it's like as much as you logically are like, don't invite them in. Part of you is like, well, this is going so poorly. Let's just get it over with, man. It's like, let's just get it going, you know.

I can see why a character could be in the position to make that choice. All right, Andrew, what do we have? So I got a few things before we get in time to be trivia as usual. What do you think one at a time? let's start off with Rotten Tomatoes critics Oh, golly

Oh, golly. 98. I was going to say we're just going to have to square off in the 90s. God, 98's a good one. Do I want to fly closer or further from the sun? Because we're nothing of great things. I can burn. Negative talking about it.

97. It was 60 nanomed. I'm just kidding. Yeah, I was about to fight you. 97! Hey! Johnny, boy! I was like, we're going to be splitting hairs here.

I know. Audience. I'm going to go 98 again. Oh, boy. 99. 96. Oh, dang. Okay.

What 4% of you are grumping out here? Armand White made a bunch of dummy accounts. Yeah. Isn't he the one who like dark night? He's always the one. Armon White. He's a critic who... Oh, the Toy Story 3, was it, right?

Yeah, something like that. He's a critic who often pops up with a very contrary opinion. Yeah. You ought to have opinion, but don't do it. Just be a prick about it. All right. Let's go with box office so far.

It's still in theaters. But as of right now, worldwide, where are we act right now, guys? Worldwide. 250 million. 700 billion. Did you say million or... I did not say billion.

I said million. I thought you said billion. This is the most profitable thing ever invented. I knew you didn't mean billion. I just wanted to make sure you didn't say billion. I knew you meant million. We're talking worldwide. World worldwide.

Currently, it's been up for a couple of months now. Currently worldwide. You said 250 million. You said 700 million. Can I change my answer? Of course. 350. 350.

750. 750. Aaron, you are exactly on the mark. Oh, let's go, baby. I way highballed that. Well, I hope they make $750. Yeah, no, I mean, or more. I mean, they must have made their budget back a few times now.

Speaking of which. Yeah. Why don't you go first on this one? What's the budget? Oh, man, this one's going to screw with me. I'm like, part of me wants to say like $50 million, but this could be more like $70 million or something. Is that your fine? I'm going with $70.

I'm going to $75 million. This is what most Hollywood movies and I think responsible studios should be doing now. Wait, can I change it? 100 million. $90 million. Damn. You got closer to me. Like 90 million, like this is a well-made movie with a high budget, but not like crazy

stratosphere high that they can make their money and make a profit now. Well, and it's cool. It's weird. As much as I do wish for the world where we would make more $30, $40 million movies, I feel like something like this, getting that $90 million shot is really cool because, A, you can stack it with probably pretty pricey cast. You smoke it? You can smoke it and you can

stack it. That's right. I feel like this is a movie that it's funny. I wouldn't have necessarily guessed 90 million but it all looks really good. You know, it's like you could make something like this on the cheap with a few, you know, mostly with concern to your effects

is kind of the biggest obstacle. So I feel like, yeah, like a movie like this, 90 million it makes sense it's all on screen and I bet they just were able to do it seems like the means for a film like this to do everything you hoped you could do yeah which is like beautiful and now to see it having such success and seemingly into profitability now like that's more financially responsible to keep it and right around this mark too you know what I mean you don't have to make like 900 million to a break even oh yeah no it's ridiculous like the way budgets operate now is ridiculous and yeah like to put all this

pressure of like every movie has to make a billion dollars is not sustainable especially with streaming everything that now it is anyways let's get right into trivia here okay only a couple got to go okay over three hours right ryan coogler explained in an interview that remick was partially inspired by the character death in puss and boots the last wish noting both his eyes and demeanor yeah yeah that's great character i can see that death was yeah shouts out the vachner mora yeah yow suggested that his character beau chow as someone with Chinese roots would wear a gold taussed amulet for good luck. Bow wears the necklace in the film, though it can be seen only partially.

Hey, that's a nice detail. Okay, cool. We like a detail like that. All righty. Jack O'Connell signed on despite only getting to read the script once, as his character would be singing Irish folk music, a dream come true for a fan of the genre. Beautiful.

All right, let's do one or two spoilers, and we'll call it. One more. Video's long enough. You got places to be. I do. You got stuff to see. I got to go. Aaron's got to open up his own juke joint.

My pocket's been buzzing. It's been calling. Last one. Last one. Here we go. Director Ryan Coogler was asked about whether he considered a potential sequel. Although it was an idea that he never thought about, the director elaborated on how he wanted to work on something original after having done many franchise projects.

He then explained that his intention for the film was to feel like a full meal and would be a finished thing. I never think about that. I've been in a space of making franchise films for a bit, so I wanted to get away from that. I was looking forward to working on a film that felt original and personal to me and had an appetite for delivering something to audiences that was original and unique.

I wanted the movie to feel like a full meal. Your appetizers, starters, entrees, and desserts. I wanted all of it there. I wanted it to be holistic and finished thing. That was how I was asked all about it. That was always my intention. You're here, man. You succeeded in that.

Yeah, well done. Crops to the man. Crops to everyone. Yeah, everyone involved. Yeah, everyone involved. A plus. Oh, man. Okay, guys. That'll be it for us today.

We just watched sinners. Let us know your favorite thing about sinners in the comments below. Everything. And we'll see you guys in the next one. Pieces. Invite me in through the lens.