Ryan Coogler began his career in film as a realist with “Fruitvale Station,” which tells the story of a true-to-life tragedy about a police killing in the Bay Area. He then directed the class drama of “Creed,” a celebrated “Rocky” sequel. But then he moved to the epic fantasy of Marvel’s hit “Black Panther” movies. In his newest project, “Sinners,” Coogler continues to deal with themes of history, faith, and race, but through the lens of horror. Jelani Cobb sat down with the director to discuss setting the film in the South, the mythology of the blues, and how he made a vampire story his own.
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From the online spectacle around Leo XIV's election to our favorite on-screen cardinals. This week on Critics at Large, we're talking all things Pope.
The Catholic Church was made for this moment. I think 2,000 years ago, the Catholic Church basically anticipated TikTok, Instagram, X. You don't have those little Swiss guard outfits and think they're not being photographed. Oil painting is not enough.
This is The New Yorker Radio Hour. I'm David Remnick.
Ryan Coogler began his career in film as a realist. His indie debut is called Fruitvale Station. It's a tragedy about a police killing in the Bay Area train station, and it scrupulously followed the last day of the victim's life leading up to the shooting. Coogler moved from there to the drama of Creed about a young boxer, a film that was in the line of Rocky.
And then he went on to make the super commercial widescreen fantasy, a Marvel hit called Black Panther, of course. In his new movie, which is called Sinners, Ryan Coogler is still dealing with themes of race and history and faith. But this time, he's packed it with vampires. What y'all doing?
Just step aside and let me on in now. Why you need him to do that? You big and strong enough to push past us? Well, I wouldn't be too polite now, would it, Miss Annie? I don't know why I'm talking to you anyway. Smoke. Don't talk to him. You're talking to me right now. Why you can't just walk your big ass up in here without an invite, huh? Go ahead. Admit to it. Admit to what? That you're dead.
I've been interested in talking to Ryan Coogler for years because I thought he had a really kind of nuanced and subtle way of seeing the world and certainly of seeing people.
Here's staff writer Jelani Cobb.
On the other side of Black Panther, which was this gigantic movie and, you know, made him the largest grossing black filmmaker of all time. And I believe the youngest filmmaker to ever gross a billion dollars for a film. There was this kind of big picture of him. And I didn't know if all the kind of details of who he actually was as an artist had been filled in.
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