Ryan Kougler’s new Vampire Musical “Ciners” is one of the best films of 2025. It tells the story of the same twins Eliza and Elias Moore-both Michael B. Played with Jordan-who are trying to escape from the right-end-tumble world for deer in 1932. Opening a successful Juke joint. They know musicians and potential employees, and they know of an old barn – which is owned by a racist old white man – whom they can buy. As they run around the city, try to get the supply, they re -connect with each older friends and the lovers. His juice joint is a commercial opportunity, but is a way of rebuilding a scattered black community as well as his reputation.
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In addition, there are vampires. A trio of white people who know the Irish folk music try to break it, while the Juke Club is in full swing. They claim that they want to play only with talented blues composer Sammy (Miles Catan), but it is clear that they want to drink all the blood and exploit Sammy’s music. One can see that the “sinner” is at least partially about the white co-opting of black music; White musicians really feed black people.
Smoking and stacking two employees Grace and Bo Chow (Yao and Lee June Lee) are Chinese migrants, who own a pair of diverse shops rich in Mississippi Delta. Grace is hired to paint the sign of The Dance Club. As it happens, shops in which Chows sell their goods are historically accurate, Cultural Advisor, Dolly Lee, is maintained by Dolly Lee. In fact, shops were designed to look like Asian -owned shops in Mississippi in 1932, as seen in the documentary series “Untold story of America’s southern sugar.”
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Chow’s shop in sinners was designed after a real Chinese-owned store in Mississippi Delta
Dolly Lee was one of the manufacturers of the above mentioned documentary and served as its hosts. His insight was well research and priceless for Ryan Kougler’s film. As An article in vultureLee and Koglars started communicating after watching their documentary series and how personal it was, was killed by the matter. Kougler’s father-in-law seems to have the Chinese delta ancestor, and he knew that he needed to represent the presence of Chinese-owned businesses in his film.
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In “Sinners”, Chaj had two shops that stood across the road from each other – one was serving a black community, while the other, white people. It was directly based on real greenville, Mississippi, depicted in shops called Min Song and Company Kirana, Lee. Once those shops located on Alexander Street also opened in the 1930s, and provided about 70% grocery items to the local black community. Sadly, it seems that now those stores are closed. Lee was surprised that Kougler thought to include Chinese characters in his film, Say on Twitter,
“I know 100% that Ryan can make the owners of the store white or black and no one would have taken a look. To insist to include them – who has resumed this doctor and history – now he is a comradery.”
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“Sinners” also depicted Chalj’s teenage daughter Lisa (Helena Hu) in a small role. Lee’s documentary talks to a woman named Jean Mascus, who remembered her parents to grow up in the missi -grocery store, who was staying behind (Chinese people did not allow the property back). Lisa can be a stand-in very well for women like masks-or, looking at her age, the mask’s mother-who has a clear memories of being a child of Chinese parents, who were serving the black community during the separation-separation south.
These details feel the “sinners” rich and alive, who want to catch black and Chinese experiences of the 1930s Mississippi. Well done, everyone.
