Sinners makes history with record-breaking 16 Oscar nominations
Sinners has broken records after being nominated for 16 Academy Awards. The horror film, directed byRyan Coogler, stars Michael B. Jordan in the dual role of the Smokestackt twins and follows the pair in 1930s Mississippi as they set up a blues club together whilst navigating racism.
Its nods include Best Picture, Best Director, Best Leading Actor, Best Supporting Actor for Delroy Lindo whilst Wunmi Mosaku has been nominated in the category of Best Supporting Actress. Costume designer Ruth E Carter has also received a nomination for her work on the project, and the film is also up for the inaugural casting prize, and a cinematography award Autumn Durald Arkapaw as well as Best Original Score, Best Original Screenplay Best Film Editing and Best Production Design.
Completing the nods the film has received are Best Sound, Best Production Design, Best Visual Effects, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, and Best Original Song for I Lied To You, performed by Miles Caton.
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The record smashes that of 14 nominations, which was previously held jointly by James Cameron's 1997 epic romance drama Titanic, All About Eve from 1950, and the 2016 musical La La Land. But it faces competition from Bugonia F1, Frankenstein, Hamnet, Marty Supreme, One Battle After Another, The Secret Agent, Sentimental Value and Train Dreams in the category of Best Picture.
To scoop Best Actress, Mosaku must beat Hamnet star Jessie Buckley, Rose Byrne, for If I Had Legs I'd Kick You Renate Reinsve for Sentimental Value and Emma Stone for Bugonia. Meanwhile, Jordan is up against Timothée Chalamet for Marty Supreme, Leonardo DiCaprio for One Battle After Another, Ethan Hawke for Blue Moon and Wagner Moura for The Secret Agent.
Sinners was nominated seven times at the recent Golden Globes, often considered a precursor to the Oscars, but only managed to win in the categories of Cinematic and Box Office Achievement and Best Original Score.
With a stellar 99 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, it has garnered rave reviews from critics, having been awash with acclaim since it was released in cinemas last year.
Empire awarded the film four stars, commenting: "It's a lot to chew on – literally, in the end – and some characters feel underserved by the time we reach the final rush of blood, teeth and fire. Then again, such a wildly original, defiantly weird and gorgeously made film can hardly be expected to follow a rulebook.
"An idiosyncratic, thematically dense twist on the vampire myth that's oddly paced but beautifully played. One to sink your teeth into." Screen Rant heaped praise on Sinners, describing it as "exquisite" and "already one of the best films of the year".
Their review gushed with admiration: "The fact that writer-director Ryan Coogler's Sinners exists feels like a miracle in this era of Hollywood. That it is so astonishingly good and thematically layered gives me hope for the future of filmmaking.
"Ultimately, Coogler's latest is already one of my favorite films of the year and should be counted among the best of 2025.
"I was taken to another place watching Sinners, and I have no doubt audiences will walk away having been moved and simultaneously entertained by this gripping, multifaceted story that deserves to be seen on the biggest screen possible and, ideally, more than once."
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