This post contains spoilers from Sinners.
Perhaps inspired by his time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Black Panther writer-director Ryan Coogler saved a surprise or two for those who stayed through the credits of his new film, Sinners.
Set in 1932 Clarksdale, Mississippi, the supernatural horror thriller stars Michael B. Jordan in the dual roles of twins Smoke and Stack—who, after sharpening their criminal skills in Chicago, return home to open a juke joint. Its debut night is immediately successful, reuniting Stack with his former flame, Mary (Hailee Steinfeld), and giving their talented cousin, young musician Sammie (Miles Caton), a chance to perform. But the night of drinking, dancing and romance is interrupted by the arrival of Remmick (Jack O’Connell), a charismatic vampire.
Mary is the first person bitten and transformed by Remmick. Soon enough, she’s turned Stack into a vampire as well. As the film rolls on, the vampires eventually kill everyone but Smoke and Sammie—the one human Remmick hopes to target most.
The final showdown ends with Smoke apparently killing Stack, then stabbing Remmick from behind just before he can turn Sammie into a vampire. “Go home,” Smoke instructs Sammie. “Bury that fucking guitar”—which Sammie had smashed on Remmick’s head, leaving him with only a broken handle.
Sammie winds up as the only living survivor that night. Smoke stays behind to gun down the Klu Klux Klan members who sold the club to the twins with the intention of coming back to kill them. Smoke is fatally wounded in the process; as he’s dying, he has a vision of his partner Annie (Wunmi Mosaku), a spiritual healer, and their late child appearing in front of him.
Sinners then returns to its opening scene, in which a bloodied Sammie, still gripping the guitar handle, drives to his father’s church and interrupts its Sunday service. “Drop the guitar, Samuel,” orders Jedidiah (Saul Williams). The action next cuts to Sammie back in Smoke and Stack’s car, guitar in hand, on his way to start a new life.
But Sammie’s story doesn’t end there. A mid-credits scene picks up 60 years later, in 1992 Chicago. Sammie, now an old man (played by Buddy Guy, a legendary blues artist and 8-time Grammy winner), is a famous musician with his own club. Though the place is closed, a bouncer comes to Sammie and says that a couple has offered a few hundred dollars to be let in. Sammie allows it, only to instantly think he’s seen a pair of ghosts. Looking like they just walked off the set of a Salt-N-Pepa video, Stack and Mary stroll in, sporting elite ‘90s hip-hop gear and having not aged a day. Stack has a hi-top fade and a colorful sweater; she’s rocking her hair up and sucking on a lollipop.
Shocked, Sammie asks, “How?” It turns out that Smoke let his brother go, and he and Mary ran off before the sun came up. “I guess I was the one person he just couldn’t kill,” Stack says. “He made me promise to stay away from you, let you live out your life.” In a chilling moment, Stack then leans in and smells Sammie. “Won’t be long before you’re gone. I can make it so you can stick around. Keep touring, keep living, no pain.” Sammie passes on the offer, saying, “I think I’ve seen enough of this place.”
Stack reveals that he and Mary own all of Sammie’s records, though they don’t love them all equally. “I don’t like that electric shit as much as the real. I miss the real. Sammie, you still got the real in you?” asks Stack. Sammie plays for them on a guitar that appears to be a replica of his guitar from that fateful night. Hearing it brings Stack back to the first time that Sammie performed for him earlier in the film. Stack and Sammie hug goodbye, and as Stack and Mary begin to leave, Sammie says, “You know something? Maybe once a week, I wake up paralyzed reliving that night. But before the sun went down, I think that was the best day of my life. Was it like that for you?”
“No doubt about it,” Stack fondly replies. “The last time I’ve seen my brother. Last time I’ve seen the sun. For a few hours, we was free.”
The five-minute scene is much more substantial than most quick tags added to films these days. Considering that two of Coogler’s first three pictures have spawned sequels (Creed and Black Panther), it might also set up further adventures for Stack and Mary. Just imagine how much trouble they caused in the ‘70s!
But then Coogler adds in one more small, intimate sequence. Once all of the credits are done, Sinners returns to Jedidiah’s church, where young Sammie is alone, ahead of the horrific events that will soon unfold—performing a blues-flavored rendition of the classic, powerful anthem “This Little Light of Mine.”
In a movie full of darkness, Coogler chooses to sign off with a little bit of light.
