The true meaning behind Sinners' surprising ending has been revealed by one of the movie's stars. Ryan Coogler's horror movie was released on April 17 to huge acclaim, with its soulful tale of twin brothers (played by Michael B. Jordan) who open a juke joint in their hometown, only to have it infiltrated by vampires. The chaotic night leads to a climactic and tragic finale, which leaves audiences emotionally conflicted. However, the meaning behind this ending might not be as sad as it appears.
After Rennick and his vampires were invited into the juke joint, Sammie (Miles Caton) and Smoke survived until sunrise, which allowed them to defeat the horde. Smoke then turned the tables on Hogwood (David Maldonado) and his KKK members, who were intending to attack the bar, and gunned them down. Smoke was also fatally wounded during the shootout and bled out, but not before witnessing a vision of his deceased wife Annie (Wunmi Mosaku) and their baby.
While this could be seen as an unfortunate ending for Smoke, Wunmi Mosaku told Refinery29 she interpreted it as "a happy ending," as it allowed for Smoke and Annie to be "connected in the ancestor world forever:"
"I think it's a happy ending… Ultimately, [Annie] feels sorrow for anyone who was turned into a vampire. She says it perfectly, they can't feel the warmth of a sunrise and they have to live amongst all this hate in this world.
These two are now connected in the ancestor world forever and by creating life together. This is the right way to join the ancestors. Is the right way everything else is to be trapped in a world of hate and pain and sorrow. So yeah, I feel like ultimately, [Smoke and Annie] are reunited."
While Smoke's death is definitive and a fitting end for his story, not all the characters in Sinners were so lucky. Two characters who did manage to make it out alive were Stack (Michael B. Jordan) and Mary (Hailee Steinfeld), who were turned into vampires but managed to escape before the sunrise. They reappear sixty years later to find Sammie, who is now a successful musician in Chicago, and offer him a chance at immortality, which he declines.
This scene is revealed via a post-credits sting that could be interpreted as the set-up for a Sinners sequel. However, Mosaku told The Hollywood Reporter that she felt placing this time jump after the credits was "circular" and "the perfect ending."
"You would always wonder what happened to Stack and Mary. You would assume that they were killed, but you now see the side of Smoke where he couldn’t kill his brother. You then see that Stack keeps his promise to his brother on the other side. So it’s circular, and it’s a perfect ending. Yes, you could have put it before the credits, but putting it in the credits means that you finish 1932 before jumping forward.
And Sammie, at the end, singing 'This Little Light of Mine,' it’s also a circular ending. We see him driving up to the church at the beginning and the end, so this is the beginning of that day. He’s still in the same costume. I feel like it’s the beginning of who he was before the twins came back."
The actress said she felt Sinners was "complete" and that the post-credits scene doesn't "mean that there must be a number two," adding that Coogler was focusing on making "a perfect cinematic experience:"
"So it felt right to me, and it felt complete. It doesn’t feel like it means that there must be a number two. It feels like a complete and perfect script. Ryan always impresses me, but I’d be so impressed if he was able to make a second film with as much powerful meaning. So I feel like he wanted to make a perfect cinematic experience, which I think he did, but Ryan can do anything. His brain thinks like no other."
Sinners is Coogler's first film since he directed the sequel Black Panther: Wakanda Forever for Marvel Studios (which also reunited him with Jordan). Sinners was filmed specifically for IMAX and has become a box office sensation since its release, currently positioned as one of the top ten highest-grossing movies of the year.
Does Sinners' Ending Leave Room For A Sequel?
When Mary and Stack were revealed to have survived and were living as immortal vampires, questions began to buzz immediately over the potential of a Sinners sequel set in the 1990s. Even Michael B. Jordan told Total Film he'd "be up for" a prequel about Smoke and Stack during their time in Chicago.
Sinners' strong cinematic world is ripe for a sequel, spin-off, or prequel. However, it seems unlikely to happen given that Coogler told Ebony he was trying to get away from the franchise world after doing two films in the MCU, and instead wanted his next film to be "a full meal."
"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 a holistic and finished thing. That was how I was asked all about it. That was always my intention."
This makes the meaning behind Sinners' ending even more poignant as the audience knows it is a definitive end point and isn't there as a form of sequel bait. This isn't to say another Sinners film may never happen, but at this point, Coogler seems satisfied with the movie. The director also has a full plate ahead with his other projects, which include the upcoming animated Marvel series Eyes of Wakanda.
