Note: The following contains “Sinners” spoilers.

Jack O’Connnell’s role as Remmick, the master vampire villain in Ryan Coogler’s hit action-horror “Sinners,” isn’t just an evil blood-sucker who’s hellbent on destroying the lives of a group of joyful Black residents in a small town in 1932’s Mississippi Delta. His nationality tells a deeper story about the Irish community’s initial experience in the United States and abroad, its complex relationship with foundational Black Americans and how and why he ultimately used his whiteness as a weapon despite knowing what it feels like to be oppressed.

Once again, Coogler has used cinema to create cultural conversations viewers can sink their teeth into. From highlighting mankind’s affinity for sin, showing the importance and cruciality of Black ownership (a nod to his own groundbreaking Warner Bros. deal) or platforming the negative effects of cultural appropriation and more, there...