This past June, when I was in Buffalo, me and a lifelong friend had a chance to go and see Sinners. This is Ryan Coogler’s 1930s Mississippi vampire–blues film that’s now up for a record‑breaking 16 nominations at the 98th Academy Awards on March 15, 2026, with the show starting at 7 p.m. Eastern / 4 p.m. Pacific.
I was absolutely blown away by the young singer in the film, Sammie Moore, played and sung by Miles Caton, and I kept asking myself, “Is he really singing that?” The depth of his cadence, the believability, and the connection were mind‑blowing. He was absolutely amazing, and then there was the story we watched, but I was still fixated on the music, especially that dancing scene that worked its way through the ages.
The Music That Commanded My Full Attention
On the music side, there’s a whole team at work. The score and overall sound of the film are put together by composer‑producer Ludwig Göransson, Ryan Coogler’s longtime collaborator from projects like Creed and Black Panther, but it’s Miles Caton’s voice as Sammie that you feel cutting straight through the screen. That combination of a composer building the world and a young singer commanding your full attention inside it is what makes the soundtrack so dangerous in the best way.
It was the first and only movie I’ve ever sat completely through until the very end. Me and my friend were the last two in the theater because I wanted to hear the rest of the soundtrack, every last note. I could’ve very easily reached out and gotten the music early, since I’m very well connected to the people who worked on it, but I didn’t. I am going to buy it this week because it’s been a really long time since I’ve been that moved by music.
Watching It Again, Seeing Even More
But the part that really blew me away was the fact that when I was at home recently, I sat down and watched it again. Streaming it at home, I was absolutely floored by how much I missed, how important certain parts were, and how I had to see it at least twice, maybe even three times, to totally get it. Understanding the scene where all cultures of people are at the Black blues club, dancing through the ages with that song playing, that hit different the second time.
The other part was the vampires trying to come into the club to see what was going on, acting like they wanted to perform, but really wondering why the club was having such a successful night, really wanting to vulture the culture for ideas and concepts. That whole energy of outsiders circling what they don’t understand but want to control. And then the other part was the community being taken advantage of when they purchased the property to “build something” for fans of blues music, that line between honoring the culture and exploiting it, which is at the heart of this movie.
Why Ryan Coogler Matters Here
Part of why it hits so hard is Ryan Coogler himself. He’s an Oakland‑born filmmaker who came up on a football scholarship, then shifted into film and came through USC before breaking out with projects like Fruitvale Station, Creed, and Black Panther. With Sinners, he’s pulling from Southern history and family stories and using blues, horror, and vampires to talk about Black ownership, legacy, and what happens when other people try to cash in on our culture. You can feel that this one is personal for him, it’s not just a “vampire movie,” it’s about who controls the music and the story.
As an advocate for Black entrepreneurship and partnerships, I’m incredibly proud of what Ryan is doing with his company, Proximity Media. Even the name feels intentional, everybody close by, creating together, eating together, and winning together. You see that on screen in Sinners: a core team that clearly trusts each other, returning collaborators who know the vision, and a film that feels like it came from a village instead of a boardroom.
Why I’ll Keep Coming Back To It
I can honestly say the movie is so deep that I do have to watch it a third time, because I feel like there are other things that I missed, layers of history, spirituality, race, ownership of art, and how the music business keeps repeating the same sins over and over. Whether or not it wins an Oscar, I really don’t give a shit. Ultimately I think it’s such an incredibly important movie for anybody who works in the music industry for ages to come, and the fact that it’s making history at the Oscars is just confirmation of what it already is on screen.