Directed By Greg Kwedar

Starring – Colman Domingo, Clarence Maclin, Sean San Jose

The Plot – Divine G (Domingo), imprisoned at Sing Sing for a crime he didn’t commit, finds purpose by acting in a theatre group alongside other incarcerated men, including wary newcomer (Maclin), in this stirring true story of resilience, humanity, and the transformative power of art, starring an unforgettable ensemble cast of formerly incarcerated actors.

Rated R for adult language throughout

Sing Sing | Official Trailer HD | A24 (youtube.com)

POSITIVES

Prison feels like the place where escapism matters most, and through the rehabilitation process of some of the world’s most dangerous criminals, we come to interpret not only its value in obscuring the horrifying realities that they wake to, each and every day, but also the magic of the stage that proves no budget is too small, if those involve truly believe in what they’re giving. This is the first film in seven years from Kwedar, who seamlessly brandishes authenticity in both the extent of his ensemble, with everyone besides Domingo being a member of the same stage troop that this film is based on, but also the artistic flourishes to his presentation, with all of its stripped down merits in accuracies that visualize the uniqueness of this particular world. From the handheld photography emitting an immersive quality to the audience, in order to live and breathe among these convicts, to the relaxed emphasis of the editing schemes, obscuring time as a construct to the greater tragedy that is quickly ticking away from under them, to even the 4:3 boxed in aspect ratio condensing a claustrophobic captivity to what we’re continuously interpreting. Everything here is meticulously utilized and creatively nuanced towards breeding a forced encapsulation, all without the pallet cleansing levity from outside of the walls that would ease the tension of the audience within this single stage setting, allowing the realities of this world to continuously permeate whenever these characters are off-stage, which serves as the single loudest reminder to what they’re fighting against. The script itself remains mostly grounded in its ambition, which isn’t necessarily a problem if it’s still able to conjure all of the mixed emotions of its intention, which the screenwriting trio of John H. Richardson, Brent Buell, and Clint Bentley attain wonderfully. As to where most of the film pertains to the making of this upcoming stage play, the real candid material are those sparingly utilized moments away from the stage, where everything from unforeseen friendships to judicial tragedies are summoned, taking audiences on an emotional roller-coaster, without any of degrading material that we’ve come to expect from prison movies. While the film is definitely rated R for the excessiveness of its aforementioned language, which breeds believability and naturalism within the many conversations that these characters are having, refreshingly, there is no violence or sexualization to these men being locked away with each other, instead basking in the glow of this hopeful getaway, which permeates vibrantly without feeling like it’s manipulating or distorting the truths that resonate in these kind of penitentiaries. The exposition feels effortless in the best kind of methods, with interactions and momentary reflections conveying a deeper truth to the characters without deliberately telling us such, all in the manner of conveying the tragic essence of the people that each of them said goodbye to, when this place inevitably changed them. As expected, Domingo’s Divine is easily my favorite character, not only for the way he continuously inspires and enlightens the crew for remaining on the path to crafting something wonderful within this eye-opening and insightful program, but also for the double life he lives as a convict, which still cautiously lingers into a past life that feels millions of miles away from where he currently resides, all with the cruel and bitter truths of his incarceration not exactly being one of factual accuracies. Because the film lingers mostly in those feel-good intentions of the magic being elicited on stage, it leaves very little time for reality to creep within the psychologies of these characters, but when it does it can truly paralyze you, especially if you invest in them as deeply and compellingly as I truly did. As expected, Domingo is a thunderstorm of emotional complexity and versatility, bringing a fiery thunder of intensity to diatribes on stage, while tranquilizing it off-stage with a tender longing for lost time that squeezed every semblance of empathy from my cold heart. Domingo has always been a favorite actor of mine, but I echo the sentiments of many who have called this his single best performance to date, as one where I might’ve seen Colman in visual likeness, but I often forgot I was watching him, as a result of the lived-in depth that he supplants to the character, and if he’s not at least nominated for another Oscar, he has already attained the certification for being my single favorite performance in 2024. In addition to Domingo, Clarence Maclin is a breath of fresh air, especially in the air of his character’s transformation, to which so much of the film can be argued to be centering around him. When we meet Maclin (Same name in real life and in the film), he’s a rough around the edges punisher who runs illegal businesses within these walls, but in joining the stage production, he gives himself over to vulnerability and compassion that aren’t always encouraged in men of that particular environment, in turn supplanting so much more than just a tough-guy stereotype, and one who is instead defined by the vital maturity that eventually allows him to start living with his eyes open. Finally, I wanted to show some love to the stage play itself, which imaginatively sheds many layers of value inferiorities to vividly bring to life the people and backdrops that they conjure with so much commitment to craft. While we the audience essentially don’t see the bigger picture until near the movie’s ending, when it’s all put together as one cohesive product, those moments of watching it unfold invite us to see their distinct vision, with success in spades coming from an almost stereogram quality to minimal set designs and cheap wardrobes that would otherwise obscure believability, but instead reach their marks, as a means of this well-oiled machine working together.

NEGATIVES

My issues with the film are essentially of the nit-picking variety, but there were two particular moments in the film where either editing or screenwriting created a temporary hinderance in my deep-seeded connection to the engagement, with them uniquely serving as the bookends to what I can safely say is one of my favorite films of the year. For the movie’s introduction, the script just doesn’t have an alluring lead-in to this story and its characters, which forces it to take a bit more time than expected in growing to appreciate either of them. While I wasn’t bored with the first twenty minutes of the film, I waited patiently for some semblance of urgency or enticement to such a unique world, which could’ve been a result of me never being a student of the stage, but for my money feels prone to the spontaneity of the structure, which feels like a film that was already in progress, when we begin. As for the ending, I was more than rewarded with how the script wraps up these respective subplots, even embellishing to the point that it’s one of the most satisfying endings to a film this year, it’s just that the editing maintains its aforementioned relaxed consistency, which drags the sentiment on, a bit longer than I would’ve preferred. There’s one particular shot in the ending that is a bit derivative of my all-time favorite movie, but one that I think would’ve worked perfectly as that triumphant moment eliciting applause from the audience, but in meandering a bit longer into a conversation between characters, it ultimately feels like it doesn’t know where it wants to end, resulting in some of the momentum being drained from a ten minute sequence that honestly should’ve been five.

OVERALL
‘Sing Sing’ is a quiet thunderstorm of a film, but one with enough authenticity and heart to raise the lights on this passionate true story that vividly defines escapism and freedom as two drastically different means of psychological healing. With a gravitational career-best performance from Domingo being the light that drives out the darkness of this prison, as well as meaningfully immersive direction from Greg Kwedar, the film is an uplifting and beautiful beacon of hope that takes its deepest bows off stage, with redemption presenting itself sometimes in the least likeliest of places.

My Grade: 9/10 or A