It's a god time to be a horror fan, with the genre's latest entry being Ryan Coogler's Sinners. One of the best horror movies in recent memory, the acclaimed filmmaker is celebrating another box office and critical victory. And he also recently shared his take on why Hollywood needs more women directors.
Sinners continues to be a powerhouse at the box office, with the Black Panther filmmaker getting his flowers for creating such a dynamic and emotionally grounded horror flick. But he's also putting a spotlight on some of his fellow filmmakers, such as Ava DuVernay. While speaking with Variety about the project, he ended up praising her work, as well as that of other women directors. As he put it:
Yeah, Ava’s a good friend. A special person, bro. I really feel like, you know — this is off the record — I feel like women are better filmmakers than men.
Obviously he wasn't really "off the record", and would go on to double down on his assessment that women are better filmmakers than men. For her part, DuVernay has done some truly masterful film work. Seriously, her work on Origin was one of the most moving films I've ever seen.
In that same interview, the Sinners director doubled down on his comments, and explained why women directors are so uniquely skilled at their work. In his words:
Put it on the record. I mean, it’s true, bro. In film school, life, whatever, they’re equipped to do this job, in many ways, better than us. They’re infinitely more complex than we are. Stronger and sharper. So, you know, we’re going to get better movies [if we have more female filmmakers]. The industry would improve. That’s the best thing I could say about that. They’ve got to be given the opportunity.
I love his take on this. The power of representation in the media has been a hot button subject for years now, especially how few women directors are given big budget movies. Not to mention how few female women have been nominated for Best Director at the Academy Awards. And per Coogler's assessment, this is negatively affecting the industry as a whole. Because better movies means a better world of film for everyone to work in.
Of course, Ava DuVernay isn't the only modern female filmmaker who is making waves in the industry. She's joined by the likes of directors like Chloé Zhao, Emerald Fennell, and Greta Gerwig. These names have had a number of snubs and successes, and Ryan Coogler seems to think that women need to be given more movies to direct overall. I gotta say, I'm down for this.
Sinners is in theaters now and continues to perform at the box office as part of the 2025 movie release list. We'll just have to see what Ryan Coogler has up his sleeve next for us.
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