Sinners is representative of what I truly love about horror. It explores the lives of the characters who live in a time of great inequality. It takes place in Mississippi in the 1930s. It was a time when only a select few could experience true freedom.

The movie harkens back to the days of a horror tale depicting creatures who frighten us to the depths of our soul but also focusing on the lives of the people experiencing not only a supernatural horror, but the quiet, enduring horror of their daily existence.

These kinds of stories exhibit angst along with hope. In the presence of monsters, heroism and bravery are displayed by people who had given up on fighting the metaphorical monsters in their ordinary lives.

For me, the overarching theme is about freedom. At first small bits of freedom, the characters just trying to establish a place that they can call their own. The freedom to love the one you want to love, regardless of the standards of society. The freedom to be oneself and express that in creativity. Amongst the townspeople there is only a small and powerful group that seem to have real freedom, for everyone else, it is a goal, a dream.

I discussed this movie over lunch with my close friend, and she believes the overarching theme is about the lie of Christianity as it has been forced upon cultures who previously practiced paganism. She pointed out that even the ancient vampire talks about how conversion was forced on his people, but how despite the suffering that was caused by that conversion, he still feels comfort upon hearing the prayers. Christianity was forced on these cultures and used to keep them in line. She went on to say that the movie is called Sinners because everyone is a sinner.

Freedom from all of this is found by many of the characters in this movie, but in profoundly different ways. The movie has many layers, and I highly recommend it. I will be watching it many times!