Visit “Sinners” Movie Filming Locations in Louisiana

At a Glance:

• Visit Louisiana filming locations from the movie “Sinners,” including in Donaldsonville, Thibodaux and Bogalusa.
• Explore the bayous, plantations and historic small towns featured in the film, from Donaldsonville’s Railroad Avenue to Laurel Valley Plantation in Thibodaux.
• Experience Louisiana’s music and culture through museums, trails, restaurants and jazz clubs.

Filmed in Louisiana’s bayous, historic towns and plantations, Ryan Coogler’s hit movie “Sinners” explores the music, religion and traditions of the American South.

Though the story is set in Clarksdale, Mississippi, much of the filming took place just 50 miles from New Orleans. Louisiana’s stunning landscape became a natural co-star, weaving its own story in the background and heightening the suspense. Throughout the film, you’ll spot hallmarks of our state’s haunting beauty, from long-stretching open fields to fog-draped swamps and billowing oak trees.

Want to experience the world of “Sinners” for yourself? Plan your trip to Donaldsonville, Thibodaux and Bogalusa to walk in the footsteps of Smoke, Stack and Sammie, and learn more about the Southern Black storytelling that inspired Coogler’s work.

Downtown Donaldsonville

Donaldsonville, just 45 miles south of Baton Rouge, is known for its quiet, small-town atmosphere. The 200 block of the town’s Railroad Avenue served as the downtown street where the twins in "Sinners" gathered supplies for their juke joint’s grand opening. In the film, Smoke parks his car on a dusty road lined with weathered telephone poles and faded brick storefronts. Today, the stretch looks much the same, with a few exceptions. The businesses in the film were built according to the historical archives, so while you can’t actually visit the Chows’ stores, you can stroll the streets and try to picture the events of the film.

Beyond the Frame: Just a few blocks from Railroad Avenue is the River Road African American Museum, which paints a detailed, intimate portrait of African American life in Louisiana’s “plantation country.” The museum centers the stories of Black inventors, folk artists, politicians and everyday citizens who are often omitted from the area’s historical narrative. Explore exhibits about southeastern Louisiana’s Underground Railroad, the rural roots of jazz music and Creole life in the town and surrounding countryside.

Off-Screen Experience: Enjoy a meal at the Grapevine Cafe and Gallery, housed in a restored 1920s building at 211 Railroad Avenue. Start with crawfish cornbread or spicy pecan shrimp, then dive into a Southern fish fillet, and be sure to save room for their award-winning white chocolate bread pudding. 

Thibodaux

Thibodaux, just north of Houma along the banks of Bayou Lafourche, captures the scale of Louisiana’s agricultural landscape, with wide-open fields stretching toward the horizon. Set along the historic plantation belt, the city reflects the region’s deep ties to the sugarcane industry. If you’re looking for the exact field where Stack picks up Cornbread to provide security for the juke joint, you won’t find it — at least not as it appears on screen. The film’s design and visual effects teams used cotton plant lookalikes and VFX to extend the landscape into seemingly endless fields.

Beyond the Frame: The E.D. White Historic Site offers a deeper look at Louisiana’s plantation-era way of life and the sugarcane economy that shaped it. The main house, built in 1825 in the Creole plantation style, was once home to two of the state’s most influential political figures. Edward Douglas White was governor from 1835 to 1839, and his son, Edward Douglass White, served as chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1910 to 1921. Exhibits in their home examine the history of Bayou Lafourche, from its original inhabitants — the Chitimacha peoples — to slavery and the rise of the sugarcane industry.

Off-Screen Experience: To get that big-sky feeling, drive the Wetlands Cultural Trail through Houma to Mandalay National Wildlife Refuge. Walk the Mandalay Nature Trail and stop at the wetlands observation deck, where you’ll want to keep an eye out for shorebirds, waterfowl and alligators.

Laurel Valley Plantation

Sammie Moore’s father’s church anchors the film, appearing in both the opening and closing scenes. The church was built on the grounds of Laurel Valley Plantation in Thibodaux, the largest surviving 19th- and 20th-century sugar plantation complex in the country. While the area’s first known resident was a French Acadian family in 1785, it wasn’t until nearly 50 years later that the land became a sugar plantation. J.W. Tucker purchased the land and turned it into a profitable operation with a workforce of 130 enslaved people, which allowed him to harvest 500-600 acres of sugarcane annually.

Beyond the Frame: When you visit Laurel Valley Plantation, you won’t see Sammie’s father’s church — it was built for the film and removed after production. However, you can take a guided walking tour through the historic village. The tour begins at the Laurel Valley Store & Museum, where antique wagons, tractors and railroad locomotives are on display, then continues through the outbuildings and ends at the ruins of the 19th-century sugar mill.

Off-Screen Experience: Visiting during the spring? Don’t miss the Laurel Valley Acadian Heritage Spring Festival, featuring live Cajun music, authentic Louisiana cuisine, and arts and crafts booths.

Bogalusa Railroad Station

Bogalusa, just minutes from the Louisiana-Mississippi line, is home to the railroad station that set the stage for several unforgettable moments in “Sinners,” including the recruitment of Delta Slim as a performer at the juke joint and a tense run-in with Stack’s former lover, Mary. The Bogalusa Railroad Station, once a key hub in the area’s lumber industry, was so central to the town’s founding that it landed on the National Register of Historic Places. 

Beyond the Frame: While Bogalusa might be an off-the-beaten-path destination, the city’s rich musical history should not be understated. The award-winning Blues & Heritage Festival is held annually in the fall, celebrating Bogalusa’s legendary local blues musicians, including Professor Longhair, whose influence can be heard on the soundtrack for “Sinners.” The festival features all-day live music, a 5K run, a kid zone and plenty of Southern-inspired food and drink.

Off-Screen Experience: Love the blues? Head to New Orleans to hear live blues as intended at clubs like the Howlin’ Wolf, named after the legendary bluesman Chester Burnett, or d.b.a., a hot spot for genres of all kinds since the year 2000. 

Braithwaite

You’ll find the tiny town of Braithwaite, Louisiana, just 10 miles southeast of New Orleans in Plaquemines Parish. The “Sinners” production team used an abandoned golf course, drawn to its wild, undeveloped landscape. There, they built Club Juke — the setting for the film’s biggest, most memorable moments, including the standout music sequence in which Sammie Moore’s performance of “I Lied to You” calls forth spirits of the past and presence, from a West African drummer to a Jimi Hendrix-inspired guitar player.

Beyond the Frame: There isn’t a juke joint in operation in Braithwaite, but about two hours northwest is Teddy’s Juke Joint in Zachary, an authentic blues club known for its incredible live music, relaxed atmosphere and home-cooked cuisine.

Off-Screen Experience: Continue your musical education at the Delta Music Museum & Arcade Theater in Ferriday. The first Louisiana location on the Mississippi Blues Trail, the museum showcases 30 blues, soul, gospel and country artists in its Hall of Fame, including Antoine “Fats” Domino, Irma Thomas and Aaron Neville.

Black History, Culture and Music in Louisiana

The world of “Sinners” is rooted in the same cultural traditions you can experience across Louisiana today.

Follow the African American Heritage Trail to walk the streets where jazz was born, learn about America’s first Black governor and pay homage to the winningest coach in college football history.

The Louisiana Music Trail takes visitors to important historical sites throughout the state. Visit the Dew Drop Social & Benevolent Jazz Hall in Mandeville, the oldest rural jazz hall in its original condition and a key meeting place for up-and-coming performers, including Louis Armstrong. Stop by J&M Recording Studio in New Orleans, where Antoine “Fats” Domino recorded “The Fat Man,” the song that launched his career and the golden age of New Orleans R&B. And “Sinners” fans won’t want to miss the birthplace of Buddy Guy, the pioneer of Chicago Blues who influenced a generation of 1960s rock musicians.

The “Sinners” story doesn’t end when the film does. In Louisiana, its themes, landscapes and rhythms are all around, ready to be explored.