Sinners Character Tier List

Character Rankings You’ll Probably Argue With Anyway

May 04, 2025

It’s finally time to talk about Sinners. A lot of writers/creators have done think pieces and in-depth writing about the themes of the film. After seeing it for a second time, one thing I noticed is how my view on some characters changed from my first watch to my second watch. I decided to make a tier list—let’s talk about it.

First Watch

S tier
- Delta Slim
- Annie
- Preacher Boy

A tier
- Smoke
- Stack
- Pearline
- Cornbread

B tier
- The Chows

C tier
- Mary

Second Watch

S tier
- Delta Slim
- Annie
- Preacher Boy
- Smoke

A tier
- Stack
- The Chows (carried by Grace)
- Cornbread

B tier
- Pearline

C tier
- Mary

First Watch vs. Second Watch

Delta Slim

Delta Slim stood out to me because he was the old head passing down knowledge about how the music was the only thing we brought with us from Africa from our ancestors. He made for great comedic relief and was part of a lot of my favorite scenes.

Sammie

Sammie is the golden child that could conjure the ancestors with his guitar. Being a kid that has their own dreams outside of their parents’ dreams is a relatable inner battle. He was all around a good kid. The flash forward in the mid-credits really made me lock in my love for Sammie as a character.

Annie

Annie’s connection with the ancestors is something that draws you into her character right away. She was the character to keep everyone else grounded. Her hoodoo practices are what ended up saving Preacher Boy and Smoke. She and Smoke have that true Black love. Even after the loss of a child, they never stopped loving each other, and she protected him when Smoke ran off to Chicago. She is a true S tier character. Delta Slim, Annie, and Sammie were all S tier characters through both watches. Smoke, however, changed from A tier to S tier on the second watch.

Smoke

Smoke was the protective twin brother. Through the first watch, I viewed the twins as similarly flawed characters. Through the second watch, I noticed Smoke went to Chicago to protect Stack. He is battling the trauma of losing a child, and that can be seen in the first scene he has with Annie. Smoke saves Sammie, makes sure Annie crosses over once she is bitten, and keeps Stack safe when he turns by locking the juke joint and keeping the Klan out. Smoke and Annie are far and away the heroes in this movie in my mind. Stack had his own problems, and they were very different than Smoke’s.

Stack

Stack had problems. He was fiendin’ for whiteness. His obsession with money and power eventually leads to him living a soulless life forever. Loving Mary is not negative—you love whoever you love—and she grew up in the Delta’s Black community. Annie even states she is family, and Cornbread had similar sentiments toward her. Stack agrees with Mary to go talk to the vampires and see how much money they had. Smoke and Annie had to talk him into taking plantation money from customers who worked hard for that money. He refused to cut them a break because the white man would never accept it—so why should he? Stack’s pursuit of whiteness is why I only rank him as an A tier character.

The Chows

The Chows have gotten a bunch of hate in the movie that, personally, I think is misguided. They are obviously allies and lived within the community. On my first watch, I did think Grace was crazy for yelling at the vampires to come in. On second watch, though, I realized it was the only plan. Everyone else wanted to wait till sunrise, but Grace even says, “Then what? They’ll kill the whole town—they have our memories.” She was right in the fact that if they didn’t fight, everyone would die anyway. That’s why on second watch I bumped the Chows up to an A tier character.

Cornbread

Cornbread was a funny, down-to-earth character. I don’t have too much to say about him. Bummer that he dies so early into the night, but he played a role as a lovable character. That’s why I put him into the A tier.

Pearline

On first watch, I thought Pearline was just a cute little romance storyline between her and Sammie—didn’t really pay her no mind. However, on second watch, I realized she is a real problem. First off, she walked all the way there at night. She had no intentions of walking back home that night (and the confidence!). The tipping point was when she threw a fit about eating the garlic. That girl was a problem. EAT THE GARLIC.

Mary

Mary personally triggered me by not understanding the repercussions of her whiteness in an interracial relationship. I think it was interesting how she was the only one that could enter the juke joint alive or dead (mind you, she was also given an invitation into the joint while alive). Her ignorance of her privilege made me grade her the lowest—it got annoying. My grade didn’t change from the second watch.

Well, that wraps up my Sinners character tier list. Tell me what I got wrong?