I Tried to Find the Juke Joint From ‘Sinners,’ and I Don't Recommend It

Idon’t know what I was thinking, exactly.

All I know is that I was in New Orleans, I’d heard Sinners was filmed nearby, and I had a day to spare. The internet told me the film’s juke joint scenes took place on an abandoned golf course 20 miles east in the tiny town of Braithwaite, and I was pretty sure I’d found it on Google Maps .

If you’re like me, you loved Sinners . You might even be going to see it again for its Halloween re-release in theaters. And if you’re like me, you also make a habit of visiting filming locations for your favorite movies. So I rented a car, drove to Braithwaite, and parked. “This’ll be fun,” I thought.

Instead, two hours of sweating and panting later, I considered myself like Sammie Moore at the end of Sinners : lucky to make it out alive.

A wall