Ryan Coogler's “The Sinners,” a horror film set in 1930s Mississippi about two gangster brothers who come face to face with vampires, has received a record 16 Oscar nominations. Read below to find out what chances “The Sinners” has to win an Oscar.
For the past few months, it seemed like the race for the Oscar in the Best Picture category was virtually over. Paul Thomas Anderson's “One Battle After Another” was confidently heading towards the finish line, winning a number of awards from film critics, as well as the main prizes of the Gotham Awards, Critics' Choice Awards and the Golden Globes. It seemed that nothing could stand in its way. Then the Oscar nominations were announced – and suddenly it turned out that Anderson's revolutionary epic did not receive the most awards. Yes, this picture has an impressive 13 nominations, but “Sinners” collected as many as 16 – breaking the record of “Titanic” (1997) and “La La Land” (2016), which had 14 nominations each.
The plot of this extraordinary picture centers on twin brothers Smoke and Stack, who return to their native Mississippi after having served in the war and immersed themselves in the criminal world of Chicago. In Clarksdale, they open the “best ever” blues bar for black people, investing money from the profits from the sawmill and hiring a team of musicians. On the first night of work, the brothers and their guests encounter a sinister supernatural force – vampires in the form of musicians…
“Sinners” grossed over $365 million worldwide and was honored with numerous awards, including two Golden Globes: for Best Original Score by Ludwig Göransson and for Cinematographic and Box Office Achievement.
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Special attention deserves Michael B. Jordan, who brilliantly talented and flexible embodies the role of both brothers Smoke and Stack, who must fight supernatural evil. 38-year-old Jordan is the star of the superhero film “Black Panther” and the series of films “Creed”, as well as the “sexiest man on the planet” according to People magazine. For this work, the actor received a well-deserved nomination for the main film award.
But what are the film's real chances of winning the Oscar in the main categories? It's worth noting that the Academy has a mixed reputation when it comes to recognizing films with black casts, films by black directors (in almost 100 years, only seven have been nominated for Best Director, and none have won), and genre films. To date, the only film that can be roughly described as a horror film to win the Oscar for Best Picture is 1992's The Silence of the Lambs.
All of this suggested that “One Battle After Another” was the more likely favorite: a large-scale, decade-long story that, although it raised significantly less money (a little more than $200 million on a budget of almost the same level), received extremely favorable reviews around the world; a film with Oscar winner and eight-time nominee Leonardo DiCaprio at the center; directed by Anderson, who now has 14 nominations, but has not yet won; and with more traditional, “weighty” themes for the Academy – social justice, the rise of white supremacism, the oppression of marginalized communities (although all of this is present in “Sinners”).
But “Sinners” also has a good chance of being a favorite. The sixteen nominations are spread fairly evenly, indicating the film's broad support. Many of them didn't seem like a guarantee — supporting actor nominations for Wunmi Mosaku, Delroy Lindo, and maybe even Michael B. Jordan for best actor — but they all came through in the end.
Of course, the film with the most nominations often doesn't win the main category: examples like “Emilia Perez” (13 nominations), “The Power of the Dog” (12), “Manka” (10), or “Joker” (11) speak for themselves. But sometimes it wins: “Everything Always and at the Same Time” in 2023 and “Oppenheimer” in 2024.
The acting awards, known as the SAG Awards, could now play a decisive role. “The Sinners” has five nominations in six film categories (no representation in “Best Actress”), and this time, along with Jordan and Mossaku, the breakthrough Miles Keaton is also honored. His unexpected nomination only underscores the depth of support for the film. If “The Sinners” can beat “One Battle After Another” and win the award for best ensemble, the intrigue will be maximum.
Critics, meanwhile, are asking: is “Sinners” serious enough to deserve such an award? But that's exactly why its victory could be a fresh decision by the Academy. It's a box office hit that proves that the demand for truly original, non-franchise projects has not disappeared. “Sinners” is a wild, exciting journey that combines entertaining cinema with a deep understanding of black spirituality, mythology, joy, loss, success and endless persecution. The film has, without exaggeration, one of the strongest scenes of the year, a number of brilliant acting, a magnificent score and strong visual solutions. And its victory would be a Hollywood plot twist at the last moment – one that you really want to remember, like the film “Parasite”.
We will see this on March 16 during the Oscars ceremony.