“Sing Sing” - Film Review
Greg Kwedar’s Sing Sing transcends the medium of film. The movie takes place at the Sing Sing Correctional Facility in Ossining, New York. It’s one of the most infamous prisons in the world, but the story isn’t what one might expect. Sing Sing is not a prison break movie. It’s not about serial killers or FBI agents. Instead, Sing Sing is a film about the art that exists inside the chainlink, barbed wire fences of the prison. Based on the Rehabilitation Through the Arts (RTA) program at Sing Sing Correctional Facility, Sing Sing shows how the arts can rehabilitate and create a space for vulnerability in even the harshest of places.
courtesy of A24
John "Divine G" Whitfield (Colman Domingo) is a member of the RTA group at Sing Sing. After a fantastic performance of William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the group must decide on their next play. Newcomer Clarence "Divine Eye" Maclin (playing himself), suggests that the group put on a comedy instead of their usual dramatic plays. Other members shout out what they’d like to have included in the play, and suggestions range from time travel to Freddy Krueger to pirate ships. The group’s director, Brent Buell (Paul Raci), takes all of these suggestions and turns them into a comedic play called Breakin' the Mummy's Code. As theater members prepare for the upcoming performance, Clarence and Divine G butt heads about the role art can play in their lives in prison.
Sing Sing is made up of performers who are alumni of the RTA program, and Breakin' the Mummy's Code was a real play put on at the prison. As the final credits roll, audiences have the chance to see the original performers on stage. That’s what makes Sing Sing transcend the confines of a mere movie. These are real stories that haven’t been glamorized for Hollywood. This is a reality that many have not experienced, but the ability of art to create a space of freedom and vulnerability is universal. Sing Sing offerse the audience glimpses of the play, but never the full show, and it doesn’t give the viewer the experience of seeing Breakin' the Mummy's Code performed for an audience. The act of creating and honing artistic skills is never about the audience. It’s never about hearing the laughter from the jokes. It’s in the process and what it means for those involved. As Brent repeats throughout the film, art is about the process, and he encourages the men to “trust the process.” To allow themselves to be open, to share the guarded pieces of themselves, and to create something they’re proud of.
courtesy of A24
It’s no surprise that Domingo is a revelation. He’s one of the most consistent actors working today, and he has the ability to make you laugh and cry at a moment’s notice. The way he exists within the confines of the camera frame is nothing short of special. Domingo is both commanding and restrained, disappearing completely into the role of Divine G. However, he isn’t bearing the weight of the film on his own. Domingo’s castmates are primarily formerly incarcerated men whose lives were greatly impacted by the RTA program. Sing Sing’s story was conceived by Clint Bentley, director Greg Kwedar, the real-life John "Divine G" Whitfield, and Maclin, who plays himself opposite Domingo.
Maclin’s film version of himself is somewhat antithetical to Domingo’s Divine G. Where G preaches peace through art, Clarence is anger bottled up and ready to burst. They butt heads immediately, but respect for one another builds as they work together on the play. Maclin’s performance is revelatory. Few actors in Hollywood right now can recite Shakespeare’s soliloquies and impart emotion and meaning behind words that sound like gibberish to our modern ears. Domingo is one of them, but it’s Maclin whose take on the famous “to be or not to be” speech that stops Sing Sing in its tracks. For over 400 years, actors of all abilities have recited those famous words, but there’s an urgency in Maclin’s delivery that is goosebumps-inducing. Perhaps it’s because Maclin understands what “to sleep, perchance to dream” means in a way that those who haven’t experienced time in the carceral system will never comprehend.
courtesy of A24
When Shakespeare wrote Hamlet, he likely could not have fathomed inmates in a prison performing that soliloquy in a time-traveling original production. The fear of Hamlet in that speech relates to the way the American carceral system sets inmates up to fail once they’re released, yet freedom is what incarcerated people dream of. Hope for the future, for life outside, is what keeps the inmates going, but when the possibility of freedom is posed, there’s a deep fear that what’s left outside is worse than life on the inside. “Ay, there’s the rub” as Hamlet says. At least within the walls of the prison, there’s a bed, food, water, and shelter. On the outside? Who knows what could be there. Sing Sing exemplifies Hamlet’s “perchance to dream.” When Clarence asks G what he should do if his probation hearing fails, G says that he has to try again and again and again. “Perchance to dream,” perchance to always try one more time and to be the support system for those around you. Sing Sing is an experience like no other. It’s an unforgettable piece of filmmaking that revels in the resilient, cooperative nature of humanity.
Follow me on BlueSky, Instagram, Letterboxd, & YouTube. Check out Movies with My Dad, a new podcast recorded on the car ride home from the movies.