Sinners does not explicitly mention why the Choctaw tribe members chase Remmick but subtly hints at the vampire’s backstory with them. Jack O’Connell’s Remmick first appears almost midway through the Ryan Coogler movie. In his introductory scene, he seems burnt and injured as he rushes to a house and asks a married Klansmen couple for help. Although initially apprehensive, the couple agrees to have him in their home moments before several members of the Choctaw tribe come knocking at their door to ask them about the rogue vampire.
When the tribe members realize that the sun is going down, they decide to leave since they are aware of how strong Remmick can potentially become at night. With what follows, Remmick turns the couple into vampires before setting out to target Smoke and Stack’s joint. Since Remmick in Sinners is eventually established as the primary antagonist, it is hard not to be curious about his backstory with the Choctaw tribe members and why they were chasing him in his initial scenes in the movie.
Sinners Implies That Remmick Was Drawn To The Choctaw Tribe For The Same Reason He Was Led To Sammie
Someone’s Transcendent Power Of Music Drew Him
Sinners subtly establishes that Remmick targets Sammie and attempts to enter Smoke and Stack’s joint because he is drawn to the young man’s voice. He realizes that Sammie’s singing allows him to transcend the borders of time, space, and the realms that separate humans and spirits. By turning Sammie into a vampire, Remmick hopes to use him and his voice as a vessel to conjure the spirits of his lost family. Although not everything goes according to Remmick’s plan, his motives with Sammie seemingly hint at how he ended up in the Choctaw tribe’s crosshairs.
The Ryan Coogler movie’s prologue establishes that every ethnic group has someone like Sammie who can break all boundaries through the power of music. It seems likely that even the Choctaw tribe had someone like that, which drew Remmick towards them. Just like he tried to convert Sammie and have him for himself, Remmick might have tried to do something similar with one of the members of the Choctaw tribe. The tribe eventually realized who he was and what he was trying to achieve. Therefore, before he could cause more harm and hurt someone else, they attempted to kill him.
Remmick’s Time In The US Means He Could Have A History With The Choctaw Tribe
He Might Have Had Several Run-Ins With The Tribe
Upon exploring the “About” section on the artist page of the verified artist behind the “Sinners Movie” playlist on Spotify, one will find a set of images. Three of these images are on the front pages of The Boston Daily Journal in 1911, The Clarksdale Herald in 1924, and The Chicago Daily Times in 1932. A closer look at the stories on all three pages reveals that they subtly disclose a lot about the Smokestack Twins and Remmick’s shrouded history in Sinners.
…During his two-decade stay in the US, Remmick likely had several run-ins with the Choctaw tribe before they truly understood who he was.
Remmick’s hinted story seemingly suggests that he was on an Irish immigrant ship that mysteriously showed up in the Boston harbor with no signs of life. Since the movie unfolds in 1932, and the story was published in 1911 in The Boston Daily Journal, Remmick was in the US for a little over 20 years before he visited Smoke and Stack’s juke joint.
The hinted backstory seems to tease that during his two-decade stay in the US, Remmick likely had several run-ins with the Choctaw tribe before they truly understood who he was. Sinners may not have explicitly mentioned any of this, but it leaves enough clues for viewers to fill in the blanks.