Sinners

"if you keep dancing with the devil, one day he's gonna follow you home" The foundation of Sinners is the idea of what it means to be free. The twins dreamed of being free of the traumatic experiences dealt on them by not only their abusive father, but also War. They return to their hometown to be free of their past of organised crime in Chicago. Whereas, "Preacher boy" Sam finds freedom in his gift of music, soon making him a target of the devil. Sam's father being a Preacher, gifted his son a guitar to serve the Lord and grow closer to God. Despite this, Sammy's talents drew the attention of the devil. Life and Sammy's idea of being free become distorted as he becomes disinterested with church and meeting quota, and gains a desire to be as free as he perceives his cousins, the twins are. The scene of the snake attempting to bite Sammy resembles the movements of the devil. Its remains close to us, slithering closer and closer in silence, waiting for the opportunity to bite. As God offers us eternal life, the Devils tempts us into an eternity of desire. Coogler depicts this through vampires, eternal blood sucking creatures that hide like thieves in the night, tempting others to join them. They exploit the desires and fears of the living. Sammy wanted to play the blues but felt limited by his father and the church, with the devil offering an alternative: to live forever and in "fellowship and love", distorting values usually synonymous with God. the vampires are godless. They are a hivemind of sin, knowing all about eachother and have lost the gift of free will, becoming slaves to the devil. Despite Sammy's gift of music drawing him into grasp of the devil, his guitar is what allows him to be free from the devil. His father believes that his son has to "drop the guitar" to become free from the devil, but Sam is dedicated to continue in music, but not in the perverted ways of the devil, but in his idea of good. The last end credit scene is of Sammy and his guitar, in his father's church, playing "This little light of mine", a gospel song about using our talents (our light) for good and not limiting them. The scene is ambiguous and offers both sense of optimism for us concerning Sammy’s future, and reasoning for the devils attraction to Sammy. A scene of innocence, symbolising how Sammy's talents were intended for good, even possibly a God-given gift.