Ryan Coogler’s latest horror film Sinners isn’t just another genre-bending masterpiece, it’s deeply personal. The 38-year-old director revealed that Sinners is actually inspired by his late uncle James, whose love for blues music and old-school vibes shaped the soul of the movie. In fact, Coogler calls the film a “love letter” to the man who helped shape his childhood, even if most people wouldn’t see it at first glance.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Ryan opened up about how his uncle’s passion directly influenced Sinners. “I wrote what I thought he’d think would be cool,” he said. That meant weaving in elements of old-school blues and Southern storytelling, the kind his uncle lived and breathed. The film even features a cameo from blues legend Buddy Guy, his uncle’s all-time favorite. “He’s the only artist my uncle would consistently get dressed for and go see a lot,” Ryan said, smiling at the memory.
James passed away while Ryan was in post-production for Creed back in 2015, and that loss hit hard. Coogler remembers their time together vividly: spinning blues records on vinyl, sipping Old Taylor Whiskey, and watching the San Francisco Giants. It was a ritual that didn’t need many words. “If the music was really good and you had enough to drink, you might get a story out of him,” Ryan recalled. But even after his uncle’s death, those memories never left him. Whenever he missed him, Ryan would play blues records, almost like he was “conjuring his spirit.”
That emotional pull helped Sinners take shape-not just as a horror movie but as a channel for grief, memory, and love. Ryan admits he’s still reckoning with the guilt of not being there when his uncle passed. Success, he says, created distance. “My ambition as a kid was to be a source of my family coming together… but as I got older, it became something that caused me to go away from it, physically,” he told Deadline. From college to Los Angeles to Hollywood fame, Ryan’s path pulled him away from the people who once meant everything.
Now, with Sinners, Ryan Coogler reconnecting-through story, sound, and emotion. The film may terrify audiences, but for Coogler, it’s also a way of finding peace and paying tribute to a man who taught him how to feel something real.
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