When it comes to horror movies, the first element that most prospective viewers likely want to know about is the scares, which makes sense. As a horror movie fan, you can only be spooked by the loud boom sound effect and a two-second jump scare so many times. Many recent entries in the genre have been testing the waters with more creative storytelling that flips the script a bit. I’ve been hoping that’ll be the case with Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan’s Sinners and, now, cast member Omar Benson Miller is sharing a tease for the film that has me pumped!
Ryan Coogler is best known for helming flicks like Black Panther and Fruitvale Station. Given his work on that, I’m curious as to what we can expect from his scary flick, Sinners. During an interview with Deadline at the Red Sea Film Festival, Omar Benson Miller revealed that he was able to see a ten-minute first look at the movie after production wrapped. And what the Ballers star specifically had to say about the footage should make fans happy:
I’ve been doing it for a little bit, and you can usually feel when you have something. On the night of wrap, the editors put together just an assembly of ten minutes, and I could’ve watched the whole two-hour movie, just standing there with my feet hurting. I was like, ‘Wow, this looks crazy.’ And so it’s really exciting, and it’s not safe. [Ryan’s] making something creative, and in that, it’s multi-genre. It’s either gonna be, ‘Wow, that was brilliant,’ or it’s like, ‘Hmm, what were they going for?’ … I’m betting on it being the former. Ryan is as good as anybody behind the camera today.
Over the last few years, the latest entries in the horror movie genre have been getting more creative with not just monsters but also narratives. For example, Malignant was highly praised for its main creature and choreography, with the movie as a whole described as bonkers and brilliant. The twisty Longlegs, however, was more polarizing, and its ending left more to be desired. If Ryan Coogler’s past work and these recent comments are anything to go by, we could be in for something truly special when it comes to his own creepy film.
As a long-time horror movie fan who grew up on the campy classic slashers, I personally like that the genre is starting to spread its wings a bit. I went to see Longlegs as soon as I could, because I heard about Nic Cage’s performance. I naturally gravitate towards the weirder and more esoteric movies. And, if you’re like me and enjoy thought-provoking horror movies, there are some that are similar to Longlegs.
Plot details on Sinners are scarce at the moment, but what is known is that it’s a period piece that revolves around twin brothers (played by Michael B. Jordan) who encounter supernatural forces. Hailee Steinfeld, Jack O’Connell, Wummi Mosaku and Delroy Lindo are also among the cast.
Though I know most people see horror movies to be scared, I’m excited to see what Ryan Coogler’s latest flick offers beyond that. Seeing that Omar Miller would willing to just stand and watch the whole movie after only seeing a ten-minute clip, I have a good feeling about what’s to come.
Sinners is set to open on March 7 amid the 2025 movie schedule. In the meantime, I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it lands on the brilliant side of the creative coin.