Black Panther director reflects on Sinners' strong female characters, as he says "women ran the set" of the new vampire horror movie: "I just wanted it to feel like life"

Ryan Coogler's new vampire horror Sinners is one of those all-too-rare, ensemble-led blockbusters that isn't afraid to let its female characters take center stage. 

While Michael B. Jordan plays twin brothers Smoke and Stack, Miles Caton is introduced as their musically-gifted cousin Sammie, and Jack O'Connell brings red-eyed vampire baddie Remmick to life, Wunmi Mosaku's Annie, Li Jun Li's Grace, and Hailee Steinfeld's Mary, get to shine, too – all taking control of the situation at different points throughout the film.

Set in the early '30s, the flick, which currently holds a 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes, follows Smoke, otherwise known as Elijah, and Stake, whose real name is Elias, as they set up a juke joint in the Mississippi sticks. Having pinched a truckload of alcohol from the Irish and the Italians when they were up in Chicago, the siblings plan to sell it at the dancehall and make money, all while offering their old friends and neighbors a safe place to boogie their blues away.

For Coogler, the character-driven script was a reflection of the diverse team he was assembling off-camera. "I just wanted the movie to feel like life, you know? I think the best way to know people sometimes is through their partners, and this movie is about the fellowship of love, as one of the antagonists says," he tells GamesRadar+. "Learning who the twins love just felt like the best way to get people to understand what the movie is."

Stack's paramour, Mary, uses her white-passing privilege to scope out the banjo-playing strangers who rock up to Smoke and Stack's club one evening, while Smoke's estranged partner Annie's knowledge of the supernatural proves vital once the blood starts spilling. "They're lost without her," Mosaku adds. "Her wisdom is her weapon".

"Halfway through the movie, I want the audience to realize that all they're doing is throwing this rager for the most important people in their life, you know? And in a sense, that's what we were doing. The women ran our set," Coogler laughs. "[Michael] could tell you... like, if you wanted anything done, that's who you'd have to go talk to. Zinzi [Coogler, Ryan's wife] was our producer with Sev Ohanian and Autumn [Durald Arkapaw] was running the camera and lighting. We had [production designer] Hannah [Beachler]. And [composer] Ludwig [Göransson], you know, had [his wife] Serena there, who would be fine tuning everything. That's who you had to check in with," he smiles. "So yeah, it's a very clear representation of what was going on behind the scenes."

Sinners releases on April 18. For more, check out our picks of the most exciting upcoming horror movies heading our way.