The Sinners Scene Christopher Nolan Compares to a Stanley Kubrick Classic

Christopher Nolan does not hand out superlatives for fun. But he just saw something in Ryan Coogler's Sinners that made him go full film-nerd in the best way.

What happened

At a special screening Nolan hosted to boost Sinners for the 2026 Oscars, the Oppenheimer director singled out one sequence: the bit where the movie's main villain, an Irish vampire named Remmick, leads a stomping, showy number to the Irish folk song Rocky Road to Dublin with a pack of freshly turned vampires.

"It is really the most spectacular musical inversion since Kubrick's Singin in the Rain."

Yes, that is a very specific compliment. Nolan was drawing a line to Stanley Kubrick's 1971 film A Clockwork Orange, which famously repurposes the cheery classic Singin in the Rain to score something brutal. He even cracked, only half-kidding, that as an Irishman he had to ask what he and his people did to deserve this kind of weaponized jig. The comment is already bouncing around social via the Nolan Updates account as of December 10, 2025.

Why that comparison matters

For anyone not mainlining commentary tracks: "musical inversion" basically means using a tune in a way that flips its usual mood. Coogler's sequence takes a rousing folk banger and turns it into a vampire recruitment drive. Kubrick did the same trick with a Broadway earworm. It is a deep-cut filmmaking compliment, and Nolan calling it the best he has seen in a long time is not nothing.

Where Sinners sits in the awards race

Fans have been loudly pushing Sinners for Oscars since it opened, and the chatter has only grown as we inch toward nominations. The big categories folks keep bringing up: Best Picture, Best Director for Coogler, and Best Actor for Michael B. Jordan. The Academy announces official nominations on Thursday, January 22, 2026.

The essentials on Sinners

• Release: April 18, 2025; one of 2025's biggest box office and cultural hits.
• Filmmaker: Written and directed by Ryan Coogler.
• Cast: Michael B. Jordan (playing the identical Smokestack twins), Hailee Steinfeld, Miles Caton, Jack O'Connell, Wunmi Mosaku, Jayme Lawson, Omar Miller, and Delroy Lindo.
• Story setup: Set in 1932. After seven years away, the twins head back to Mississippi hoping to outrun their messes and open a juke joint for the local Black community, bankrolled with stolen cash. On opening night, they hand the mic to their cousin Sammie, whose music accidentally summons otherworldly trouble: Remmick, an Irish vampire, and his crew. The night spirals as the vampires try to turn the entire room.

Bottom line: if you have seen the Rocky Road to Dublin blowout, you know why Nolan is amped. If you have not, maybe cue it up before nomination morning hits.