Sinners ending explained: Do Smoke and Stack survive the fateful night?

Sinners is a supernatural horror film that added yet another feather in acclaimed filmmaker Ryan Coogler's hat. Released in April 2025, the movie achieved both critical and commercial success. It marked another successful collaboration between Coogler, Michael B. Jordan, and Swedish composer Ludwig Göransson—living up to the high standard set by their previous work.

Disclaimer: The following article contains spoilers for Sinners. Reader's discretion is advised.

Shot on IMAX cameras, Sinners is set in the 20th century and follows the story of twin brothers, Smoke and Stack, portrayed by Jordan. These identical brothers are World War I veterans who spent years working for the Chicago mob before moving to their hometown in Mississippi to start a juke joint for the local Black community. What begins as a lively night for the music-loving folks soon turns into a bloodbath, thanks to a group of vampires led by the Irish vampire Remmick (Jack O'Connell).

Remmick turns Stack's ex-girlfriend, Mary (Hailee Steinfeld), into a vampire when she goes after the vampires to confirm if they have the money they claimed to have. Mary returns to the joint, seduces Stack, and turns him into a vampire as well. At the end of the movie, Smoke tells his cousin Sammie (Miles Caton) to leave and gets shot in the fight with the Ku Klux Klan members.

Sammie is the only human who escapes the fateful night. In the first post-credits scene, the timeline flashes forward sixty years, and Sammie is now a famous blues musician like he had always wanted to be. He has his bar where he performs.

One day, just as he finishes his set and sits down to enjoy a drink, Stack and Mary, who are vampires, visit him. Although most of the other vampires died that night when the sun rose, Stack and Mary escaped. So, out of Smoke and Stack, only the latter survived, and that too in vampire form.

How do Mary and Stack escape in Sinners?

After Mary turns Stack into a vampire, Smoke and Sammie find them. Smoke shoots Mary, but she remains unharmed. Mary is heartbroken when she sees Smoke kill his beloved wife Annie (Wunmi Mosaku) with his own hands after she is turned into a vampire because he knew that she never wanted to be one. Mary leaves the place and seemingly takes shelter in the shadows since she appears in the post-credit scenes.

Stack attacks Smoke after the latter kills Annie. Smoke manages to overpower Stack and is ready to pierce his heart with a stake, but refrains at the last moment. Smoke lets Stack leave after the vampire brother promises that he will not bother their cousin Sammie and let him live his life on his terms.

In the post-credits scene, knowing that Sammie is going to die soon, Stack and Mary arrive at his bar and offer to turn him into a vampire. However, Sammie respectfully declines and plays a song for them. Before Stack and Mary walk out of the bar, Sammie confesses that, despite the haunting memories of the night, it was the greatest day of his life; Stack echoes this sentiment because it was the last time he saw Smoke or the sun.

Why was Remmick so determined to get Sammie in Sinners?

Sammie's exceptional musical abilities are acknowledged from the beginning of the movie. Smoke's wife, Annie, who believes in the supernatural, narrates that Sammie is one of those musicians who hold the power to attract spirits. The viewers witness this when Sammie performs on the opening night of Smoke and Stack's joint; spirits from the past, present, and future appear in a trance and dance to the music.

Remmick, who later admits to Smoke that he was passing by the joint by complete coincidence, also recognizes Sammie's musical power. At first, the Irish vampire tries to take Sammie forcefully. When that plan fails, he reveals that he wants Sammie because his music can connect spirits from different eras and can help Remmick reunite with his long-gone loved ones.

Toward the end of the movie, Remmick and Sammie face off in a climactic showdown in which the latter hits the vampire with the silver in his guitar. This stuns Remmick and his vampire group long enough for Smoke to impale Remmick with a stake, thus putting an end to the supernatural being for once and for all.

Sinners is available to stream on HBO Max.