There used to be a time when many of the nominees for the biggest Oscars came out either halfway through any given year or near the end. There was a push by studios to have films they thought worthy of trophies to be released in December, but that time has mostly passed.
Sure, many films that earn Oscars still are late-year arrivals, but 2025 might completely change the narrative. According to Deadline, there is no chance that the Michael B. Jordan-led Sinners will not get nominated for a bunch of awards, not just Best Actor or Best Picture.
No other film released between January 1 and June 30 comes close to having the same kind of chances. Does that mean 2025 has been a bad year for movies, or that the award-winning ones have mostly not been released yet, or that Sinners is that good?
Let's be real here: Sinners is just that good. (By the way, if you have yet to see it, you might not have to wait long before you can watch it for free if you have an Max subscription.)
Pete Hammond of Deadline wrote recently, "With exquisite craftsmanship and superb acting, Sinners stands to rack up possibly double-digit nominations..."
He is correct, of course. The film stars Jordan in two different roles. He plays twin brothers, Smoke and Stack. Both used to work for Al Capone in Chicago but stole some money and moved to a small town in the deep South where they want to open a juke joint. Smoke and Stack both left long-term relationships to make their plan work, too.
The issue they run into is that there are vampires. You see, the ridiculously talented writer-director Ryan Coogler (Creed, Black Panther) somehow managed to create a film that involves the two genres of gangster movies and vampire tropes and form them into one project, and the whole thing works.
That is because Coogler writes and directs the characters in a way that makes them feel real even if you do not like their, well...sins. There is no judgment from the film on what anyone does. Are the vampires bad? Sure, but they are also trying to find a way to build a community. You might not like all of them, but you will understand them.
And the cast, led by Jordan, is full of acting talent, including Hailee Steinfeld, Wunmi Mosaku (each was romantically linked to Stack and Smoke, respectively), Delroy Lindo, Miles Caton, and Saul Williams. The real sin is that not all of these actors can win Oscars because they might be beating each other for the awards.
But perhaps the real secret to Sinners is how Coogler works in the music, which is nearly a character unto itself. The vampires want it (for reasons you'll need to see the film to figure out), and Stack and Smoke rely on it. And yes, the film is an obvious choice to be nominated for multiple Oscars in 2026.
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