One of Sinners' Most Oscar-Worthy Moments Is a Tragic & Honest Portrayal of Parenting

When we first meet Wunmi Mosaku’s character, Annie, in Sinners, she is getting a visit from Michael B. Jordan’s Elijah “Smoke” Moore, who wants her to cook at his soon-to-be-opened juke joint. We learn they’re married and, evidently, estranged. A grave in the backyard of Annie’s home lets us know they lost a daughter.

“Papa’s here,” Smoke whispers as the camera pans to a stone with a tiny footprint on it. Beside it is a full bottle of fresh milk, presumably left there by Annie, who continues to take care of her late daughter even after her death.

The characters played by Mosaku and Jordan, now both Oscar nominees for their roles in the film, disagree over how best to honor their daughter. Smoke, a war veteran hardened by the reality of living as a Black man in the 1930s, doesn’t believe in his wife’s spiritual practices. Annie, though, taps into West African spirituality with graveside offerings and Hoodoo practices to keep her husband safe.

They are united, though, in their grief, sharing a tender moment at their daughter’s grave that transcends the distance her death has put between them. Smoke’s stoic facade shatters as he rests his head on Annie’s chest. For a moment, they are parents together again after years of running from the grief.

As Dr. Jessica Zucker, a psychologist specializing in reproductive health and the award-winning author of I Had A Miscarriage, notes, “Sinners suggests that parental identity and connection often continue even after a child’s death. The graveside moment acknowledges that love and responsibility don’t disappear with loss, but are carried forward through memory and shared grief.”

It’s a quiet scene in a film dominated by the vibrant sounds of Stack and Smoke’s dance hall, and later, the haunting music of Jack O’Connell’s folk-musician vampire group.

Later, when Remmick’s clan does get to Annie, her only goal is to make it to her daughter. “I have someone waiting for me on the other side, and so do you,” she tells Smoke as she begs him to take her life so she won’t turn into a vampire. In Smoke’s final moments, he sees Annie and their daughter, who become his reason to stop vampires from inhabiting his body. It is Annie’s spirituality, mystique and maternal love that bridges the gap between life and death.