Vampire horror 'Sinners' makes Oscar history

Vampire horror Sinners. [Warner Bros]

Vampire horror Sinners has made history after becoming the most-nominated film in Oscars history, earning an unprecedented 16 nominations for this year’s Academy Awards.

The film surpasses the previous record of 14 nominations and has outpaced its closest competitor this season, Leonardo DiCaprio’s thriller One Battle After Another, which received 13 nods.

The scale of Sinners’ achievement has sent shockwaves through Hollywood, particularly because the Academy has long been hesitant to fully embrace horror as a prestige genre. By breaking this long-standing barrier, Sinners has not only rewritten awards history but also reshaped perceptions of what horror cinema can accomplish when paired with rich storytelling, social depth, and technical brilliance.

Among those recognised are Michael B. Jordan, who leads the cast, alongside his British co-stars Wunmi Mosaku and Delroy Lindo.

Jordan’s nomination for Best Actor comes for his striking dual performance as twin brothers Elijah ‘Smoke’ and Elias ‘Stack’ Moore, a demanding role that required him to embody two emotionally distinct characters while maintaining a shared history and bond. 

Critics have widely praised the performance as one of the most ambitious and emotionally resonant of his career, noting how he subtly differentiates the brothers through posture, speech, and emotional restraint.

Other major contenders include Timothée Chalamet, who is hoping to finally secure an Oscar after two earlier nominations, and Irish actress Jessie Buckley, widely tipped to win Best Actress for her role in Hamnet.

The Academy Awards ceremony will take place in Hollywood on March 15, with Sinners entering the night as the clear frontrunner. This year’s most-nominated films are: Sinners (16), One Battle After Another (13), Marty Supreme (9), Frankenstein (9), Sentimental Value (9), and Hamnet (8). Sinners movie eclipses the former nomination record jointly held by All About Eve (1951), Titanic (1998), and La La Land (2018), placing it firmly among the most celebrated films in Oscar history and marking a turning point for horror genre.

Beyond its record-breaking nominations, Sinners is widely considered the best film of the year because of how seamlessly it blends genre thrills with historical context, music, and emotional storytelling. Rather than relying solely on shock or spectacle, the film uses horror as a lens to explore legacy, exploitation, community, and survival, grounding its supernatural elements in very human fears and desires.

Director Ryan Coogler features prominently among the nominees, earning recognition for directing, writing, and producing the film. 

His vision elevates Sinners beyond conventional horror, crafting a film that is as haunting emotionally as it is visually. Coogler’s direction has been praised for its restraint, allowing moments of silence, music, and tension to speak as loudly as the film’s more violent sequences, while the film’s cinematography and sound design further enhance its immersive atmosphere.

In the synopsis, the movie is set in 1932 Mississippi, where Sinners follows twin brothers Smoke and Stack, who return home after working for the Chicago mob. Using their savings, they open a juke joint intended as a refuge for music, freedom, and community in a deeply segregated South.

As opening night unfolds, old relationships resurface, unresolved tensions emerge, and the blues played inside the club carries an almost supernatural power that electrifies everyone present.  As the night deepens, the music grows more intense, blurring the line between celebration and ritual.

Characters are forced to confront buried memories and long-standing wounds, while the twins begin to realise that their dream may come at a far greater cost than they anticipated. Outside, an unseen presence gathers, drawn to the raw emotional energy pouring from the club.

The celebration soon descends into terror when vampires, lured by the life force of the music, surround the joint. What follows is a desperate fight to survive until dawn, marked by sacrifice, loss, and impossible choices. By morning, only a few remain, and the events of that night leave a lasting legacy that echoes across decades through music and memory.