REVIEW: ‘SING SING’ Is Emotionally Perfect

Sing Sing is the perfect film to begin SXSW. It’s about the power that acting can give to those who are trying to find themselves again and connect with others too. The film is about brotherhood and love, joy and grief. It’s about how theater can change you by allowing you to unpack who you really are.

Sing Sing is directed by Greg Kwedar and features a screenplay written by Kwedar and Clint Bentley based on John Divine G Whitfield and Clarence Maclin’s story. Based on the real-life Rehabilitation Through the Arts (RTA) program at Sing Sing maximum security prison, the film centers on a group of men who have been incarcerated as they embark on creating and performing a stage play. At the group’s core is Divine G (Colman Domingo). A man imprisoned at Sing Sing for a crime he didn’t commit finds purpose by joining a theatre group and acting alongside others. He contributes to the RTA steering committee, assisting in the decision-making process for selecting the next plays and determining who to invite for auditions. Divine G selflessly gives himself to RTA and the men in it.

When the group embarks on producing a comedy that crosses time and genre, a newcomer, Divine Eye (Clarence Maclin), showcases the program’s power. More importantly, the depth and beauty of the relationships formed within it. Sing Sing is a stirring true story. Showcasing resilience, humanity, and the transformative power of art, the film is even more impactful when you realize that the men on screen are alumni of the program.

Colman Domingo is truly a once-in-a-generation actor. From the tenor of his voice to his visceral cries, Domingo is unafraid to let the audience feel the world through his performance. He shows us his joy, his ability to inspire, his power to lead, his capacity for great empathy. As Divine G, Domingo shows his audience as many facets of life as he can. The sweetness of friendship, the love of brotherhood, and the grief that comes with both. Domingo is allowed to play a man. Nothing more, nothing less. There is no gimmick, no trope, just a man laying himself bare and showing how vital of a lifeline acting can be.

Sing Sing is a success because it does not trivialize the men’s struggle. But it also does not minimize their capacity for joy. In fact, the majority of the film shows the men as they are, filled with a youthful wonder, playing make-believe in the most beautiful way. Acting, for them, is an escape, but it’s also a vital form of connection. Through acting exercises, they lay their souls bare to each other. Encouraged to be vulnerable, the most beautiful takeaway of the film is that anger is easy. Being hurt and expressing how you’ve been hurt: that’s hard.

The complexity isn’t about what the men did in their pasts. Instead, it’s about their shared humanity. It’s about their undeniable and earth-shaking talent. Sing Sing is about the connection the stage can forge but, not just with other people. The only man to deliver a monologue better than Colman Domingo, Clarence Maclin playing himself, is a revelation. His friendship with Divine G and the other men is beautiful and layered. But every time we see Divine Eye step back up to tackle Hamlet, we see him connecting with himself. You can see how he reaches into his past, grounds himself in the present, and allows himself to feel the hurt.

Divine Eye commands your attention at every moment, but there is a shift in how he does so. At first, his apprehension is at the forefront. The focus is on how he holds tension in his body. He’s a man who has always had to be aware of his surroundings. He’s been conditioned to keep his head on a swivel to survive. And then, that hypervigilance switches. He connects with the men around him, feels their joy, and finally celebrates it, too. He becomes unshakingly strong as he opens up to others and begins to lead with his vulnerability. In a film that stands as Domingo’s most salient and best work, Maclin doesn’t just hold his footing but stands outside Domingo’s shadow too.

The rest of the ensemble cast is also breathtaking. Sean Dino Johnson, Sean San Jose, Miguel Valentin, and Jon-Adrian Velazquez, all showcase their talent beautifully. They each get moments to show their depth. Not a single one of the men is one-note. Instead, even when they have fewer lines, Sing Sing allows them to shine in their dynamic lives. Men, especially Black and Latin men, aren’t encouraged to cry or be vulnerable. They bury their hurt and their grief to be “men” as defined by their culture. But that doesn’t have to be the reality. In Sing Sing, vulnerability is not only the goal but also a deeply held value embraced by all involved.

There are not enough words to describe Sing Sing’s importance as a film. It’s a testament to the men who put on a comedy with Egyptian princes, pirates, time travel, Freddy Krueger, and Hamlet. It honors their talent and life, but more importantly, it honors all of those still have yet to make it home. The film humanizes without infantilizing and always puts its subjects first. Greg Kwedar and Clint Bentley‘s approach to telling this story is stunning. In a landscape that refuses to see these men and their stories as anything but their trauma, Sing Sing tells us of their joy. The film breaks your heart and rebuilds it stronger than before.

Powerful and intimate, Sing Sing is a perfect film.

Sing Sing is playing in theaters nationwide.