Ryan Coogler’s vampire thriller Sinners has taken the entertainment industry by storm. Audiences were “floored” by the “gory, horny, relevant” flick, and even Spike Lee gave an A+ review that certainly built up the hype. But the reaction that touched my heart the most was Josh Allen's. The Buffalo Bills' quarterback is also the husband of Sinners star Hailee Steinfeld, and he got candid about his sweet and surprising response to the film.
The new season of HBO’s Hard Knocks may be focused on the Buffalo Bills' training for the upcoming season, but the latest episode revealed that quarterback Josh Allen has “very strong opinions” about movies. After media personality Kyle Brandt asked the NFL player what he thought about Sinners, he was quick to give it an “A+” rating due to its combination of “different aspects of life” and another special reason I’m sure you can guess. He said:
My wife absolutely kills it. Hopefully [with] award season coming around, people make the right decision.
As he said, Hailee Steinfeld absolutely “kills it” in the 2025 movie release. Not only as a creepy vampire, but as a white-passing character, Mary, who is trying to work out her relationship with one of the twins Michael B. Jordan plays. Through researching her mixed heritage, the True Grit actress successfully portrayed the pain of Mary and Stack’s love story of wanting to be with a man who rejected her for her protection in the oppressive Jim Crow era.
Given all of the past roles that shaped the talented actress’s career, the Ryan Coogler flick allowed audiences to see her in a new light and with power and unapologetic honesty that made her a true standout. Like Josh Allen said, hopefully The Academy will recognize Steinfeld this awards season.
The NFL star snuck into the Mexico premiere of his wife’s movie and said at a Bills press conference how proud he was of her. However, Allen emotionally revealed to Brandt a surprising reaction he had when the end credits rolled that is making me want to tear up:
When we watched it at the premiere, I was crying at the end. I was just so proud of her. I get emotional thinking about it. It was a pretty cool experience.
Josh Allen must feel like one of the luckiest guys in the world to be married to such a phenomenal actress. The ending of Sinners -- and spoilers ahead -- is definitely an emotional one, where Stack and Mary, who were presented as star-crossed lovers, spend eternity as vampires together, with everyone reflecting that their last night together as humans was the best time all those decades ago.
But I also believe Allen must have been very touched seeing his wife score a touchdown of her own with her transformative performance. Now, he can say one of his favorite movies of the year starred the woman he plans to spend his own eternity with.
Hailee Steinfeld surely has a fan in her husband, who was brought to tears watching her Sinners performance. If the singer/actress does receive that Oscar nomination, I would love to see Josh Allen all teary-eyed supporting his wife at the ceremony, just like she’s supported his football career. That mutual dedication to one another is true love at best.
You can see what Allen’s talking about by watching Sinners with an HBO Max subscription.
