The Impact of Colonisation Shown Through Sinners
- Suvi Pushpakanthan
- 1 hour ago
- 4 min read
Spoiler alert: The following article contains details about the plot and ending of Sinners.
As a movie enthusiast, I love a film with powerful themes, and the recently released horror film ‘Sinners’ doesn’t fall short. With all the talk around the movie, I went in blind and don’t regret it one bit.
Sinners is American director Ryan Coogler’s latest release, a standout for this year so far. It’s made headlines for being one of the highest-grossing films of the year—something I wasn’t expecting, especially since horror films don’t generally see much commercial success. This is great news for me as a horror lover, and I hope that this gives horror movies a big push to reach mor widepsread audiences.
Given its success at the box office, it’s clear something drew the public to the film. I think it’s Coogler’s powerful storytelling, combined with the actors’ stellar performances that truly brought this all together.
For some context, Sinners is set in 1930s Mississippi Delta and stars Michael B. Jordan in a double role as twin brothers “Slim” and “Stack”, alongside the film's breakout star Miles Canton as the twins’ younger cousin “Sammie”.
Slim and Stack return to their hometown, looking to open a juke joint for the black community. Joining them was their cousin Sammie, a talented singer and guitarist with a passion for the Blues. Sammie’s father, a pastor, warned him that Blues music was not of God, but the devil; something not to be messed with. Sammie ignores his father's word and continues pursuing music. As this story builds—the twins and Sammie pursuing their ambitions—the supernatural, keen to intervene, are afoot. Eager to turn talented Sammie was our antagonist, the Irish vampire, Remmick, played by Jack O’Connell.
Let's explore the various storylines taking place and the impacts they had on the film.
Sammie
Sammie’s character is key to the movie’s plot and main message. Coogler uses Sammie to connect religion and music. Historically, Blues is a genre of music originating from African Americans living in the Deep South during the 1860s. It incorporates elements of the African cultures brought over by slaves to the United States. Whilst there isn’t a specific story explaining its origin, it’s widely believed to be related to the emancipation of slaves in the late 1800s. If you listen to Blues, it clearly holds a lot of emotion, depth and soul, which Sammie brings in his performances.
Historically, colonialism has used religion to justify the occupation of people. For example, white colonisers did this in Africa and the Americas using Christianity. They believed that they had the divine right to bring about the liberation of the so called “oppressed”. Their Western civilisation would save the people from satanic oppression, ignorance, and disease.
This explains why the Pastor is so against Sammie’s performance of Blues. Blues signifies the connection African Americans have with their roots, which in the eyes of the western world, is demonic. And a reminder of what was stolen. Ultimately, Sammie represents the everlasting connection African Americans have with their ancestors through music. Something colonisation was never able to take away.
Smoke
Christianity was weaponised to wipe out and erase the history and culture of the colonised. Christianity was forced onto people as the only correct belief, to ensure the change of the collective conscience of the colonised. And it worked. Too often, society views traditional or pagan beliefs as weird or even demonic.
This ties into Smoke and Annie’s (his lover) beliefs. During Smoke’s visit to Annie, we learn of Annie’s belief in hoodoo, a spiritual practice developed by enslaved African Americans. We can see this when she hands Smoke his ‘mojo bag’. Woven into the practice is African spirituality and indigenous botanical knowledge. Whilst Annie firmly believes in its power, Smoke is dismissive, believing it to be nonsense. Was it though? Aside from Sammie, Smoke was the only one who survived the attack from the vampires. The non-believer was saved by the demonised practices of his ancestors.
Remmick
My favourite scene in this movie, has to be Sammie’s performance at the juke joint. Quite literally leaving me with goosebumps. It was clearly the centrepiece of the film. On stage, we got to see Sammie begin the night with his song “I lied to you”. This song was an experience on its own, it blends blues with gospel, jazz, and hip-hop—all genres deeply rooted in African American culture.
Whilst everyone was dancing, amongst them we were shown dancers from African cultures o the past, and musicians from the “future”, our present. This is what Remmick sees, he understands Sammie’s ability to reunite all the spirits in one place. As mentioned in the movie, Blues is “music so pure it can pierce the veil between life and death, past and future”.
Remmick, a victim of the colonisation of the Irish, lost his family and loved ones, his community. When he hears the song, he realises its raw power could reunite him with them. Sammie’s abilities allowed listeners to connect with their ancestors, offering a solution to his eternal loneliness. Symbolic of how colonisation exploits its victims of their traditions and cultures, Remmick wanted to turn Sammie into a vampire like him rather than preserve his artistry; all to serve himself a chance of being with his people. Forming a cycle of exploitation, the once exploited is now exploiting.
My take on the film's main message
At the end of the film, Sammie had the choice between two fates: to follow in the footsteps of his father and be a holy man, or choose his passion and what truly makes him happy. Despite everything he experienced and lost that night, he still choses to follow the song of his ancestors: the blues. By the end, I was certain that the villain was never really Remmick. He was simply another victim of colonialism.
The movie perfectly explored the complex relationship that music, religion, and spirituality have in the African American community. I loved that this wasn’t obviously pushed to viewers; you have to dissect what was happening to understand the themes. This makes it a great movie to discuss. So, I urge anyone reading this to please give Sinners a watch. I’m certain whether you like it or not, you won’t leave the film without some sort of analysis on what you watched. Even now I still think of new things Coogler was trying show. A 10/10 movie for me!