Black liberation and the vampirism of capital: A socialist review of “Sinners”

Chicago, IL – Ryan Coogler’s movie Sinners is densely packed with social commentary. Much has been written about the film’s reflections on a range of topics. This review is grounded in how the film addresses national liberation. Sinners demonstrates through its plot that Black liberation is incompatible with capitalism.

“No matter how many guns or how much money you got. They gon’ take it from you when they want,” said Remmick, the head vampire, explaining to Smoke Moore and the other living characters that the downfall of the Juke Joint and the massacre of its customers were inevitable. The fatal flaw of the Moore twins, Smoke and Stack, is their belief that making money is the path to freedom.

“It’s a mighty fine day to be free,” Stack says as the twins prepare to open their business. A few scenes later, Smoke disavows any belief in the supernatural and says “only money” can give you power.

The vampires gain access to the Juke Joint because the twins need money to keep their business running. They need U.S. currency and not the wooden coins paid by their sharecropper customers. White people are more likely to have U.S. dollars, so Stack’s ex-girlfriend Mary goes outside to speak with the strange white visitors.

Coogler drew inspiration from the Faustian bargain, a deal with the devil. Vampires use money to gain access to a building in the same way capitalists use it to exploit labor. They claim to make a “fair trade” in a necessarily exploitative relationship. Mary went outside looking to make a profit and found herself not only being exploited but being used to exploit everyone else.

Instead of being the key to freedom, capital traps the Black community of Clarksdale in their oppression.

So what is the road to freedom?

Sinners does not depict a revolution, but it does show some successful struggle. The film rejects idealist solutions offered by many similar movies. Sammie’s recital of the Lord’s Prayer does not work. Nor are the vampires defeated by the abstract powers of love or music.

In order to win, the protagonists have to discover the vampire’s weaknesses and then physically defeat them. Their knowledge comes mainly from Smoke’s wife Annie, who has studied past struggles against vampires and similar creatures.

The fight in the Juke Joint is spontaneous and therefore has limited success. The owners and patrons lack knowledge and unity. After the first attack they still don’t know who or what the vampires are, so they send most of the patrons outside, where they are picked off one by one. Inside, they suffer from impulsive decisions like when one of them invites the vampires in to fight before the humans are ready.

We see a more successful struggle from the organized Choctaw. It’s implied that they have killed other vampires already. They almost kill Remmick but get stopped by a KKK couple, Joan and Bert, whose racism is encouraged by Remmick and ends up being fatal to both of them.

The story would have gone very differently if the characters were not divided by national oppression and white chauvinism. If the Black, white and indigenous characters were united, the vampires would stand no chance.

One of many lessons we can learn from Sinners is that bloodsuckers rely on the division and ignorance of their prey. Those of us suffering from the vampirism of capital need to learn how it works and unite to drive a stake through the heart of the system.

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