SINNERS: Character Spotlight Annie

Annie, Rootwork, and the Reality of God’s Sovereignty

When I look at Annie from Sinners, I see a woman I’ve known in every lifetime.

She is love, strength, wisdom, and hope embodied.

She reminds me of so many Black women I’ve encountered the caretakers, the warriors, the nurturers serving their households, their communities, and their men with everything they have.

Annie carries herself with quiet intelligence and unwavering devotion.

She doesn’t dictate the people she loves; she gives them space to think, to choose, and to grow  while standing as a shelter and shield.

I admire Annie.

I feel Annie. 

I’ve been Annie.

Even though I don’t agree with the spiritual practices she turns to, I cannot deny the beauty of her heart or the sincerity of her love.

Annie represents a truth that often goes unseen:

the unbearable weight placed on Black women to save everyone even when saving is not our job!

In Annie’s attempt to protect her family, she fell into something many of us fall into when we are desperate:

trying to play God.

We don’t have the same capacity as Him and never will. 

But there is only one true God  and no matter how deeply we love, only His hands can truly heal, save, and restore.

Annie’s Rootwork and the Weight of Playing God

Annie’s love for Smoke and his little twin brother Stack was fierce, and her loyalty unmatched.

While Smoke was away, she “worked every root she learned” to keep him and Stack safe.

Day after day, prayer mixed with rootwork, hope mixed with fear.

Annie poured her heart into her rituals, believing that if she did enough, she could hold death and danger at bay.

But when tragedy struck, and their infant daughter was lost despite all her efforts, Smoke asked the devastating question:

“Why couldn’t it save our baby?

*I asked the same question under my breath while watching but my heart and soul already knows the answer*

It was a heartbreaking truth Annie couldn’t deny and I admire Smoke for having the balls to ask even more I admire Annie’s honesty for admitting she didn’t know. 

Because no matter how much we work, fight, love, or even pray outside of God’s will, there are battles we are powerless to win on our own.

Isaiah 45:5 (ESV):

“I am the Lord, and there is no other; besides Me there is no God.”

No spell, no ritual, no human strategy can replace God’s sovereign authority.

And Annie, like so many of us, bore the crushing weight of trying to hold it all together.

But Jesus offers a better way:

Matthew 11:28-30 (ESV):

“Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.”

A Personal Reflection: Learning to Lay It Down

I know Annie’s struggle intimately.

There was a time in my life when I felt like the safety and survival of my family depended solely on me.

The weight of protecting everyone was so overwhelming that I cried out to God  and in His mercy, He whispered, “Give them to Me.”

Psalm 55:22 (ESV):

“Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved” 

I had to learn what Annie didn’t:

That I am not God.

That no matter how deeply I love, I cannot save.

I can pray. I can fight. I can nurture.

But ultimate salvation belongs to Him alone.

Proverbs 3:5-6 (ESV):

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.”

In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths.”

Letting go was painful.

But it was also the greatest freedom I’ve ever known.

The Temptation of Rootwork and the Danger of Vengeance

One truth about the occult that must be said plainly is this:

It is tempting.

Especially when you’ve been hurt.

Especially when you feel powerless.

Especially when you want to protect or avenge.

But the spirits that are called upon for rootwork or vengeance do not give without taking.

They don’t care about your pain, your purpose, or your family.

They come to collect and the price is always more than we ever intended to pay.

God warns us clearly:

Deuteronomy 18:10-12 (ESV):

“There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord.”

And even when the temptation to seek revenge feels justified, the Word reminds us:

Romans 12:19 (ESV):

“Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’”

Vengeance belongs to God.

Justice belongs to God.

Salvation belongs to God.

Annie & Smoke

Annie’s Humanity: The Strength of Softness

Annie wasn’t just a fighter and protector  she was also a woman.

A woman who still needed to be loved, seen, touched, and desired.

There’s a moment in Sinners when Annie and Smoke share intimacy and it’s more than physical.

It’s a reminder that even women who carry the weight of the world still need to be leaned into.

Still need to be cherished.

I understand Annie’s softness because I understand that tension within myself.

As a woman of faith, as a woman dedicated to purpose, I know the strength it takes to build and protect but I also know the sacredness of allowing myself to be soft, to receive love, and to embrace the God-given gift of intimacy without shame.

God created me fully 

Strong.

Spiritual.

Sensual.

And good.

There is no weakness in desiring love.

There is no shame in needing to be held.

The Final Reality: Death, Sin, and Redemption

In the end, Annie is reunited with the special one who was waiting for her and Smoke on the other side.

She dies with her heart full of love, but her hands still entangled in rootwork in sin.

And while Sinners is just a movie, the spiritual reality is very real.

It is not God’s desire that anyone die in their sins.

2 Peter 3:9 (ESV):

“The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”

Romans 6:23 (ESV):

“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

The truth is sobering:

No matter how good our intentions, if we choose paths apart from God, we open ourselves to eternal consequences.

Only repentance and faith in Jesus Christ can rescue and restore.

Love Stronger Than Death

Annie’s final act was not one of fear but of love.

When the roots showed her that death was coming, she didn’t run.

She didn’t fight to stay bound in a cursed existence.

She made Smoke promise to set her free.

She loved him too much to become a danger to him.

She loved her people too much to become a curse among them.

And she loved her child the one waiting for her on the other side  enough to let go of the life she knew.

Annie didn’t allow Smoke’s love for her to become his weakness.

She trusted him to be strong enough to let her go even when every part of him wanted to hold on.

Smoke didn’t want to do it.

Everything in him resisted.

But because he loved her because he respected her spirit even more than he clung to her body he honored her wish.

And when it was done, when Annie’s spirit was free, they were joined again.

Annie, Smoke, and their child reunited beyond the veil of this broken world, in a place where no curse could follow them.

Romans 8:38-39 (ESV):

“For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,

nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Annie’s story reminds us:

Love is stronger than death.

Faith is stronger than fear.

And those who trust in God’s promise of eternal life they are never truly lost.

Conclusion: Only God Can Carry It All

I honor Annie’s heart.

I honor her love, her loyalty, her resilience. She fought with everything she had but she fought alone, when she didn’t have to.

Only God can carry the weight of protection.

Only God can deliver true justice.

Only God can restore what is broken.

Only God can save.

And by His grace, we are invited to lay down our burdens and trust Him fully, freely, and forever.

Author’s Note:

This reflection is dedicated to every Black woman who has ever carried a weight too heavy for her shoulders.

To every woman who fought to protect her home, her children, her man — and still longed to be protected herself.

May you know that your strength is seen, your sacrifices are honored, and that you were never meant to be God — only His precious daughter.

Final Reflection: The Ultimate Act of Love

Annie’s sacrifice echoes a greater love 

the love of Jesus Christ, who laid down His life so we could be truly free.

Christ did not fight to hold onto life as we know it;

He surrendered it so that death would no longer have the final word over us.

Through His sacrifice, we are offered reunion, restoration, and eternal life beyond the pain and curses of this world.

Annie’s story reminds us that real love is not selfish.

Real love Christ’s love lays itself down so that others can live.

And in Him,

we are promised that death is not the end.

It’s only the beginning of forever.

John 11:25-26 (ESV):

“Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me, though he die, yet shall he live,

and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?’”

I believe it.

And because of that belief, I know

love wins.

Faith wins.

Life wins.

Actor Spotlight: Oluwunmi Mosaku — The Woman Behind Annie

Before I close, I’d be remiss not to honor the incredibly gifted woman who brought Annie to life 

Oluwunmi Mosaku, the Nigerian-British actress whose presence on screen is as commanding as it is graceful.

I first laid eyes on her in the 2020 hit show Lovecraft Country, another masterpiece of Black horror historical fantasy. From the moment she appeared on screen, I knew she was a force.

There’s something about the way she holds pain, power, love, and mystery in her eyes that draws you in and doesn’t let go.

And in Sinners, she does it again.

Oluwunmi carries Annie with such quiet depth you feel every choice, every fear, every act of devotion.

She doesn’t just act she embodies.

She’s not playing a role she’s becoming a truth that too many women, especially Black women, know all too well.

She is quickly becoming a Black horror historical fantasy favorite and rightfully so.

Her work deserves every flower.🌺

Well that’s it folks! I appreciate you for reading my character analysis! If you haven’t seen Sinners yet then WTF are you waiting on?!

-Ari

4/26/25