A film that went under the radar in Romania is emerging as the surprise favorite at the Oscars and can now be seen in streaming

“Sinners”, last year's film by the young American director Ryan Coogler, was one of the revelations of 2025 at the North American box office and is now considered not only one of the big favorites at the next Oscars, but could even become the first feature-length horror film in history to win the most coveted award.

With actor Michael B. Jordan doubling up to play both lead roles of twin delinquent brothers who return to their hometown where they're confronted by a “supernatural evil,” according to the feature's official description, Sinners it's basically a vampire movie.

Additionally, setting his story in the segregated US South was considered such a risky bet that many studios turned down Coogler, known for directing the film Creed from 2015 and the two superhero feature films Black Panther appeared later.

“I'm happy that we were able to find a home at Warner Bros. And because people really came [să îl vadă]which is something you can never control, can you? It's a risk. I'm willing to bet on a good story. I truly believe that there is no experience comparable to a movie seen in a movie theater (…),” he said in an interview published by Variety magazine this week.

The studio Warner Bros. not only gave him the green light to make the film, but also provided a budget of 90 million dollars. The amount is high even by Hollywood standards for a feature film that, as good as it is and as much as it crosses genre boundaries, starts from the premise that it's a vampire movie.

The movie “Sinners” is one of those rare commercial successes, and it has achieved something before

Warner Bros. bet on the scenario proposed by Coogler, however, was an inspiring one. Released in cinemas on April 18 last year, Sinners grossed $279.65 million in North America, Hollywood's home market that often dictates whether a film is a financial success or failure for the studio that produced it.

Sinners ended 2025 as the 7th highest-grossing film at the North American box office and earned another $88.3 million in worldwide ticket sales. In Romania, the receipts amounted to 338,000 dollars, Coogler's film finishing the year in the 54th position at the Romanian box office, according to the reference site boxofficemojo.

Even if in our country it was eclipsed by other cinematographic productions, those who are curious to see it if they missed it in cinemas can do so on Warner Bros Discovery's streaming platform, HBO Max, where it is translated into Romanian with the title Sinners.

Sinners it's also one of those rare commercial successes that was widely appreciated by film critics, and in the US it even managed to overcome the ideological barriers that cause some feature films to be attacked with negative reviews because they are considered “woke” or that, on the contrary, they appeal to conservative sensibilities.

“Mixing old clichés of the genre with a strong message – the eternal recipe for a high-quality horror film – the director, always captivating, proves again that he has something pressing to say, whether it is about boxers, superheroes or bloodthirsty vampires,” notes the conservative publication The New York Post in its review.

“Sinners Ryan Coogler's is an elation on the big screen – a passionate and effusive anthem about life and love, including the love of movies. Set in Mississippi during the Jim Crow era, it's a genre- and mind-defying fantasy full of extraordinary performances, dancing vampires, and many ideas about love and history,” notes The New York Times, from the other side of the political spectrum.

“Sinners” could shatter the Oscar nominations record

Variety magazine noted on Thursday, after the Screen Actors Guild of America announced the nominations for the so-called SAG Awards, that although the film One Battle After Another set an all-time record with 7 nominations, the rise of Coogler's film is one that “completely rewrites the calculus.” That's because the film industry awards galas that precede the Oscars often set the tone for favorites and can overturn analysts' calculations.

Even last year's awards season was marked by a constant change in forecasts after the film Emilia Perezinitially considered the big favourite, was marred by an unprecedented scandal over some old comments made by its lead actress on social media.

Ultimately, the Oscar for Best Picture went to the film Anori of the American filmmaker Sean Baker after it also triumphed at the Film Critics Association Awards, the last big gala before the Oscars. Baker also won Oscars for Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best Editing, tying Walt Disney's 1954 record of 4 awards won at a single ceremony by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Variety now predicts that Sinners will receive no less than 15 Academy Award nominations, a total that would surpass the Academy's all-time record, held equally by All About Eve, Titanic and La La Land. “And there's still room for growth. The film still doesn't make the top five for supporting actor for Miles Caton, despite his SAG nomination, nor for makeup and hair, and currently has two nominations for original song. If even a fraction of those categories materialize into nominations, Coogler will enter a statistical stratosphere that no director has ever reached,” writes the entertainment magazine.

A horror at the Oscar for the best film?

Moreover, Variety predicts not only that Sinners will be nominated for the Oscar for Best Picture, but that it's currently the favorite to win—something no horror film has accomplished in the nearly 100-year history of the Academy Awards.

Some experts believe that The silence of the lambs triumphed in this category in 1992, but the classification of the Sir Anthony Hopkins film as a horror is controversial and rejected by others.

What is certain is that the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will announce the full list of Oscar nominations on January 22, 2026 and the award ceremony will take place on March 15, 2026 in Los Angeles.

Until then, a first signal could come this Sunday, when the Golden Globes gala takes place, at which Sinners compete for Best Drama Film, Best Actor in a Drama Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Soundtrack and Best Original Song in a Motion Picture.

The Golden Globes Gala, which every year opens the awards season of the cinematographic industry, will take place at 20:00 on the East Coast of the USA, that is, Monday at 03:00 Romanian time.