Sinners: Ending Explained [Spoiler Alert]

Sinners is an American horror film set in Mississippi during the 1930s. It was directed by Ryan Coogler and starred Michael B. Jordan. The duration of the film is 2 hours and 17 minutes, and it is distinguished by extending its denouement, presenting two scenes that conclude the story of the characters just when it seemed that everything was over.

This is an emotional horror film about a past that comes back to haunt you. Smoke and Stack are two boys who experienced abuse during their childhood. They aspire to create a better future for their loved ones, but the circumstances have not been favorable for them.

They had problems with the law before, they have suffered the loss of loved ones, and it seems that the mistakes of the past have taken the form of vampires, who now come to devour their vitality.

The beginning

The film begins with an injured man, Sammie, who arrives at a church with a guitar. There, a pastor asks him to reject Satan and the devil. Then we witness the return of Smoke and Stack, veterans of the First World War, to their hometown, Clarksdale. His return does not go unnoticed. They carry with them the memories of their time in the slums of Chicago. They are not mere heroes; they are marked by violence. However, his only desire is to create a place for his community: a live music venue.

To achieve this, they need to reach an agreement with the KKK, buying the old mill where the club will be located from the white owner, Hogwood, who has deep ties with that hate group. The KKK are warned to keep their distance, or they will face the fury of the brothers, although it is noticeable that they do not plan to stay away for long.

The brothers search for their cousin Sammie, whose father, a pastor, does not approve of their desire to play music. However, Sammie works hard in a cotton field for six days a week as a sharecropper and is convinced that music will give him freedom.

The twins take Sammie in and immediately teach her about sex, violence and illegal trade, crucial elements in their plans. The brothers gathered a diverse group of artists for their new music venue. Among them were the talented pianist Delta Slim (Delroy Lindo) and the charming singer Pearline (Jayme Lawson), who quickly catches Sammie's eye. Smoke's estranged wife Annie and some local Chinese merchants also joined in.

For his part, Stack faces a complicated reunion with his ex-girlfriend Mary (Hailee Steinfeld), who now presents herself as white and holds a grudge for having left him behind while he went to Chicago.

Later, Stack, along with Sammie and Delta Slim, visit a plantation to invite his old friend “Cornbread" to join as a doorman of the mill. Meanwhile, he is introduced to Remmick (Jack O'Connell), a vampire who escapes from a Native American tribe. He finds unintended allies in a KKK-sympathetic couple, Bert (Peter Dreimanis) and Joan (Lola Kirke), whom he quickly turns into vampires, thus creating the main threat of the story.

Life and death

The narrative shifts rapidly towards its core, a live music venue that acts as a hotbed of tensions. That night, Smoke and Stack are throwing a party. Sammie is asked to play blues music, and her performance brings to mind memories of ancient times. There is a legend that says that musicians can connect life and death if they interpret the blues in an exceptional way. This special performance unites the culture and history of the black community, also showing the cultural identity of all the listeners.

Remmick, Bert and Joan are heading to a place where there is live music. Similar to vampire stories, Remmick and his friends need to be given permission to enter a home. Smoke senses that there is something strange and refuses them entry. However, Mary sees them as customers and decides to go out and talk to them.

This causes Mary to undergo a transformation and then she returns to the music venue after being invited, and turns Stack during an intimate encounter. Realizing that a problem is coming, they send their visitors back home from the premises, but the vampires outside convert everyone who was visiting.

Sammie

The vampires go after Sammie, wishing for his musical ability to help them cross between life and death. He also gives them the option to become vampires, which will ensure them eternity, a community and freedom from racism.

All this happens because he knows that the KKK will arrive in the morning to finish off those people anyway. Now, the remaining humans – Smoke, his wife Annie, Sammie, Grace, Delta Slim and Pearline - must find a way to contain the vampires and survive that night.

Annie tells everyone about the weaknesses of vampires (garlic, silver, sunlight) and confirms that only a stake in the heart or the dawn will be able to kill them definitively. Finally, the vampires manage to enter the premises after being invited by Grace, who fears that they will convert her son and decides to fight them to the end.

This leads to a violent confrontation. Although Smoke and the survivors manage to eliminate most of the vampires, their group suffers great losses. Grace dies tragically after using a Molotov cocktail; Pearline is attacked by vampires; and Delta Slim sacrifices herself so that Sammie can escape.

Smoke faces a great personal misfortune when he is forced to drive a stake into Annie after she suffers a bite. Later, he bumps into Stack, who has been turned into a vampire, but does not have the strength to end his brother's life; similarly, Stack is unable to bite Smoke thanks to a protective hoodoo amulet that Annie had given to Smoke years ago.

Sammie manages to get out of the building, but Remmick follows her. In a moment of desperation, Sammie hits Remmick's head with her beloved guitar, leaving the silver disc buried in the vampire's skull. This leaves Remmick incapacitated long enough for Smoke to deliver the killing blow. When dawn breaks, Remmick and the other remaining vampires are reduced to ashes.

Sinners presents a chilling denouement. The fear shifts from the supernatural to the harsh historical reality of the deep South.

The founding of the music venue required concessions to the KKK, occurring after the attack by the vampires. Smoke protects Sammie, retrieves weapons from his military service and fights to the end, eliminating all the Klansmen before being hit by gunfire. In his last moments, Smoke sees Annie and her deceased daughter in the afterlife, whom he reunites with soon after.

The film concludes with the same scene as at the beginning: Sammie, scarred and holding the broken handle of her guitar, staggers into her father's church, as she did at the beginning.

Despite her father's pleas to give up music and the instrument, Sammie leaves, aware that she will become a blues legend.

Time jump

The horror narrative moves to 1992, where Sammie has achieved stardom as a musician. He receives the unexpected arrival of Stack and Mary, who seem not to have changed over time. Stack confesses that he made a deal with Smoke, giving up his own existence in exchange for Sammie's freedom. Although Sammie is later offered immortality, she decides not to accept it.

Following Stack's request, Sammie plays a tune and admits that that night at the bar, despite having caused her bad dreams, was the best day of her existence. Stack shares this emotion, remembering that it was the last time he saw his brother and the sun, as well as the only instant in which he felt true freedom. At the end, a young Sammie is seen singing This Little Light of Mine. This can be understood as a tribute to music, which will guide him throughout his life.