Sammie’s Music In Sinners Explained & Why Rennick Wants It So Bad
The following contains spoilers for Sinners, now playing in theaters
Sinners gives the vampiric Remmick an interesting motivation by having him target Sammie because of his music. Sinners is largely about a group of characters trying to survive an encounter with vampires in 1932 Mississippi, but the film’s true themes go far deeper than the overt horror movie elements central to the premise. While Smoke and Stack are central to the story, the real focus character of Sinners is their younger cousin Sammie. A young but gifted musician, Sammie is central to their scheme to open a juke joint before growing up to become a blues legend in Sinners‘ ending.
Sammie is more than just a guitar player and a singer, however. It turns out the young man is also so gifted that his abilities as a musician transcend life and death. This gives him a unique ability that Sinners showcases in one of its most compelling visual beats, underscoring the importance of music to the character and to the film’s themes as a whole. It’s also a clever way to give the villainous vampire Remmick a motivation beyond being a bloodthirsty monster and makes him a far more compelling character as a result.
Sammie Is A Unique Type Of Musician In Sinners
Sammie Is So Good At Music, He Can Play For The Past And Future, Living And The Dead
Sammie isn’t just a talented musician in Sinners, but possesses the ability to transcend reality with his playing — which is why Remmick is trying to turn him into a vampire. As established in the opening sequence of Sinners, some musicians from different cultures are capable of performing music in a way that it breaks the barriers between the living and the dead. The intro cites examples of this that could be found in places like Ireland, China, and West Africa, all filtered through their own particular style of art and music.
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Sinners’ Club Juke One-Shot Is Now My Candidate For The Coolest Movie Scene Of The Year So Far
Music is its own living, breathing character in Ryan Coogler’s Sinners, and its on full display in an intoxicating one-shot midway through the movie.
Sammie showcases this ability during his showstopping performance in Sinners, where he sings “I Lied To You” to the enjoyment of the patrons at the juke joint. As he plays and everyone becomes overwhelmed by the music, unseen visions of other musicians from across history appear, ranging from Zaouli dancers, crip walkers, electric guitarists, a ballerina, and Peking opera performers all moving in tandem to the music and adding to it. This connection is something special but not unheard of, which is why Remmick understands what Sammie can do and why he wants it so bad.
Remmick Wants To Reconnect With His Lost Loved Ones
Remmick Wants Sammie’s Music So Reach Back Into The Past For Him
Image via Warner Bros.
Despite being the most overtly dangerous figure for much of Sinners, the vampire Remmick is a surprisingly emotionally motivated character. Implied to have been alive for over a thousand years given his reference to his father being among those driven out of Ireland. Remmick explains to the assembled survivors, after being exposed as a vampire, that he wishes to turn Sammie into a vampire so that he can also access that ability.
It’s a clever way to make Sammie’s abilities central to the plot while ensuring the movie’s central monster has an understandable motivation.
Remmick reveals that he misses his loved ones from ages ago, and believes that by using Sammie’s powers coupled with his own musical talents, he could be reunited on some level with those loved ones he wasn’t able to make immortal like himself. It’s a surprisingly emotional motivation, and feeds into his suggestion that he truly believes in converting people into vampires because he wants to create a new community to replace the one he lost long ago. It’s a clever way to make Sammie’s abilities central to the plot while ensuring the movie’s central monster has an understandable motivation.
The True Meaning Of Sammie’s Sinners Performance
Sammie’s Music Being The Truly Immortal Part Of The Movie Speaks To The Endurance Of Art
Sammie’s abilities and Remmick’s desire to claim it highlight Sinners‘ perspective on music as something that transcends the real world. At the core of Sammie’s story in Sinners is the way the music makes him feel and how he can share it with others. While his father and Smoke both try to convince him to abandon any ambitions of being a musician for the danger it presents, Sammie stands his ground. It’s literally his weapon against Remmick, his guitar buying him enough time for Smoke to save him. It’s the music that saves him, and the music that’s truly immortal.
Sammie is played by Miles Caton for much of the film, but legendary blues musician Buddy Guy plays the older version of the character who appears in the first post-credits scene of the film.
Sinners is in many ways about the enduring power of music and the way it connects cultures. Sammie’s blues music connected him to elders in his time like Delta Slim, endeared him to romantic interests like Pearline, and ensured he retained a connection to his roots even as he left them behind. He shares a song with the vampiric Stack in the film’s post-credits, bringing them back to happier days. It’s that power Remmick wants to steal, the ability to connect with the past, that makes him such a compelling antagonist in Sinners.
