Sinners, and the Struggle to Transcend

What Ryan Coogler's latest tells us about the challenge of "freedom" from earthly pain

Apparently, one of the most important thematic scenes for Sinners (2025) was almost cut from the film. In it, Delroy Lindo plays Delta Slim, an old, whiskey-soaked blues pianist who’s agreed to entertain at the new bar of two startlingly rich twins, Smoke and Stack, who’ve returned to the brutal Jim Crow south in 1932 with mysterious intentions for a si…