Sinners' CinemaScore Grade Is A Huge First For Horror Movies

21 Apr 2025, 17:45 by Jeremy Smith · /Film

Warner Bros

Let there be no doubt: Ryan Coogler's "Sinners" is a critical and commercial smash. The wildly inventive horror film currently holds a 98% Fresh rating at review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, and grossed an impressive $45.6 million at the domestic box office during its first weekend of release — that's the biggest opening for an original movie since Jordan Peele's "Us" took in $71 million in the pre-pandemic year of 2019.

And yet "Sinners" most remarkable achievement thus far might be the A grade it received from moviegoers polled by CinemaScore. This is a terrific rating for any movie, one that augurs well for its box office performance going forward. But it's especially notable because no horror film in the 46-year history of the market research company has ever scored higher than an A-. In other words, as far as 2025 moviegoers are concerned, "Sinners" is the best horror movie of just about the last half-century.

If you went to see the film in theaters last weekend, this should come as no surprise. This movie is jam-packed with ecstatic moments that evoke applause, shrieks and roaring laughter, all of which builds to a torch-the-roof finale and a bittersweet denouement that'll send you floating out of the theater with a tear or ten in your eye. I can't remember the last time a film left me feeling so elated, and, evidently, neither can the vast majority of moviegoers. "Sinners" is a special film.

But what's up with horror movies and CinemaScore? Why did it take so long for one to receive an A grade, and why do films of this genre typically score so poorly?

Sinners is that rare horror movie that ends on an exhilarating note

Warner Bros

To the best of my knowledge (and Google's), no one has ever done an extensive study of horror movies and CinemaScore, but the low grades make a little bit of sense when you consider that many fright flicks end either on a down note or with a stinger that sets up viewers for the next movie in the series. Also, some people who do not like horror get dragged to these films by their partner and/or friends. Some people don't like being scared. Even people who like being scared might feel like a particularly gruesome movie goes too hard.

In general, CinemaScore's greatest value to studios and exhibitors is its ability to determine how well a movie's marketing worked. Did people go to see the movie they expected to see, or did the trailers and commercials pull a bait-and-switch? Studios tend to play up the jump scares when marketing a horror movie, so if the film in question winds up being more of a slow burn that prizes eerie atmosphere over, say, cats unexpectedly jumping out of a closet, that'll throw a dent into your CinemaScore.

I know what you're probably thinking right now, and, no, "The Silence of the Lambs," which was an Oscar juggernaut and a blockbuster, did not get an A grade. It got an A-, like "Get Out," "Five Nights at Freddy's," "The Lost Boys," "The Conjuring," "The Conjuring 2," "A Quiet Place Part II," and, somewhat surprisingly, "Child's Play 2." What about David Cronenberg's "The Fly?" B. Wes Craven's original "Scream?" B+. "It?" Also a B+. Hit up the company's website to check on your favorite horror movie from the last four decades. I can assure you it didn't get an A.

Many of the aforementioned movies wound up being massive hits, so, since we're in uncharted CinemaScore territory with "Sinners," it feels like the sky's the limit at the box office. I'll be taking friends to see it this weekend, and I bet many of you are going to do the same. And if you haven't seen it yet, do yourself a huge favor and park your butt in a theater as soon as possible. Do not wait for streaming. This is a movie that demands to be seen in a packed house on the biggest screen in your area.