Sing Sing review: This 'affecting' fact-based prison drama is Oscar-tipped (2024)

ByCaryn James,

Sing Sing review: This 'affecting' fact-based prison drama is Oscar-tipped (1)Sing Sing review: This 'affecting' fact-based prison drama is Oscar-tipped (2)A24

"Powerful" Colman Domingo stars as a real-life inmate of New York's infamous Sing Sing Correctional Facility in a moving film about an inspirational prison theatre programme.

When non-professionals appear alongside professional actors, the seams often show, resulting in an unconvincing hybrid. Not so for Sing Sing, a fact-based drama about a programme to rehabilitate prisoners through theatre. The Oscar-nominated Colman Domingo is at the centre as the real-life Divine G, imprisoned in New York's infamous Sing Sing Correctional Facility. He is surrounded by a cast of men formerly imprisoned there, non-actors playing versions of themselves. Against all odds, this works beautifully. Sing Sing is a polished, affecting film based on harsh but hopeful realities.

The film's perspective is a wildly different view from lurid prison dramas, or even documentaries. We are instantly put in the midst of a production of Rehabilitation Through the Arts, or RTA, an ongoing theatre programme in six New York State prisons. Divine G, the nickname for John Whitfield, is a founding member of the group and its star, as we see in the opening scene, as Domingo, in closeup and in character, recites from A Midsummer Night's Dream. Two other professionals have major roles. Paul Raci plays Brent Buell, the volunteer who visits the prison to run the program, and Sean San José is Mike Mike, Divine G's friend and another imprisoned RTA member. But most of the characters on screen – discussing what play to put on next and doing acting exercises – went through RTA. They are the story's true focus.

The main character among them is Clarence Maclin, known as Divine Eye. He brings superb depth and naturalism to his role as a man with a reputation for being hot-tempered who is also a sensitive Shakespeare fan who wants to join RTA. Film history is full of people who bombed at playing versions of themselves, but Maclin is the rare exception. Divine G and Divine Eye start out as wary rivals but become good friends. Maclin and Domingo are terrific collaborators, making their slow-growing bond believable.

Domingo has been powerful recently in Rustin and The Color Purple, and he is the same here, capturing Divine G's larger-than-life presence yet letting the rest of the cast shine too. Domingo is always central, but he makes that a reflection of the character's importance in the group, not an actor's star turn. His unsentimental performance makes Divine G a man full of positive ideas and energy, with some anger and ego roiling deep inside.

Awards buzz for Domingo started in March, and has expanded to include the film itself

For its next production, RTA settles on a knowingly-ludicrous comedy cobbled together by Buell to give each of the men a role. As it was in real life, that time-travelling hodgepodge is called Breakin' the Mummy's Code, and includes an Egyptian mummy, gladiators, Hamlet and Freddy Krueger. Fortunately, the film shows limited parts of that production. Much of the action takes place behind the scenes in the rehearsal room, with some especially poignant acting exercises. In one, Buell asks the group members to describe a perfect moment. One man says it is looking across the Hudson River from Sing Sing to a spot where he knows his mother is looking back toward him. For another it is a memory of a picnic decades before with his wife. The film has been sharply edited for maximum effect, but that doesn't undermine the sincerity and lack of self-pity that runs through these moving, naturally expressed answers, improvised in the men's own words.

Sing Sing

Director: Greg Kwedar

Cast: Colman Domingo, Clarence Maclin, Sean San José, Paul Raci

Run time: 1hr 47m

The director, Greg Kwedar, has made a previous feature, Transpecos (2016), but is largely unknown. He has made astute choices here, although he might have done more to acknowledge the even rougher side of prison life. For the story's first half, the situation seems almost too idealised, with RTA members the most benign, forward-looking incarcerated people you've ever seen. But at a crucial moment, Kwedar undercuts that too-rosy possibility when Divine G reaches a breaking point. Domingo explodes in a yelling, crying meltdown which suggests all the long-term inner pain that his character has endured through the years in prison.

Part of the story involves Divine G's attempt to overturn his conviction on a murder charge, based on new evidence that proves his innocence. That subplot is damning to the criminal justice system, but it is also telling that it remains a subplot. The film never bludgeons viewers with a message, and in most cases we never learn why these men are in prison. The focus remains on their inner lives and hopes, and on the way theatre becomes a psychological and emotional life raft. (According to the RTA website, the reoffending rate for members of the programme is less than 3% compared to 60% nationally.)

Awards buzz for Domingo started at the South by Southwest festival in March, and has expanded to include the film itself. It is a small movie with steep odds against it, but it is also extraordinarily accomplished, and is being distributed by the awards powerhouse A24, so who knows?

The title Sing Sing has a layer of meaning beyond the name of the prison, alluding to the way art allows the characters' minds and hopes to soar and find expression. But this eloquent film could also have been titled, after Maya Angelou: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.

★★★★☆

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Sing Sing review: This 'affecting' fact-based prison drama is Oscar-tipped (2024)

FAQs

Sing Sing review: This 'affecting' fact-based prison drama is Oscar-tipped? ›

Against all odds, this works beautifully. Sing Sing is a polished, affecting film based on harsh but hopeful realities. The film's perspective is a wildly different view from lurid prison dramas, or even documentaries.

What are some facts about Sing Sing Prison? ›

Sing Sing was first called Mount Pleasant State Prison, after the surrounding township. The prison lay within the Village of Sing Sing boundaries, and in the 1850s, after the railway arrived, it became Sing Sing Prison. Sing Sing's Cellblock A is the largest cellblock in the world at the time of its construction.

Why is Sing Sing Prison so famous? ›

With the advent of the electric chair in 1891, Sing Sing became notorious for its executions. Although the electric chair was developed at neighbouring Auburn, almost all executions within the state were carried out at Sing Sing until 1963. The infamous “death chair” was later moved to Green Haven prison.

Is Sing Sing still an active prison? ›

Today, Sing Sing holds about 1,700 inmates, has about 900 employees, and is considered a model correctional facility due to its innovative rehabilitation programs for inmates. Movies including The Big House (1930), Angels with Dirty Faces (1938), and Analyze That (2002) were all set at Sing Sing.

How many prisoners does Sing Sing hold? ›

It is about 30 miles (48 km) north of Midtown Manhattan on the east bank of the Hudson River. It holds about 1,700 inmates and housed the execution chamber for the State of New York until the abolition of capital punishment in New York in 1977.

How many people have escaped from Sing Sing Prison? ›

The author said there had been "40 or 50" successful escapes in his 20 years incarcerated at Sing Sing. Notable Sing Sing prisoner escapes and attempts include: 1872: When both men and women were housed there, a man escaped in a horse carriage.

What is the meaning of Sing Sing? ›

/ˈsɪŋ sɪŋ/ ​a US prison for the state of New York. It is in Ossining, New York, and its first building was completed in 1925 by prisoners used as workers. Many of the state's most dangerous criminals have been sent to Sing Sing because of its strong discipline.

Why do they call it Sing Sing? ›

Pleasant, near the Hudson River town of Sing Sing. Sing Sing's name comes from the Indian phrase sin sinck. It means stone on stone. In 1901, three years after Edison introduced the electric chair at Sing Sing, the town changed its name to Ossining so people wouldn't confuse it with the jail.

Was there an electric chair at Sing Sing Prison? ›

A total of 614 men and women died in the electric chair in Sing Sing, and since 1914,all executions in New York State were done there. The last execution at Sing Sing Prison occurred on August 15, 1963. "Death row . . . in 1929 photo.

Why is Johnny's dad in prison sing? ›

After a botched robbery due to Johnny failing to have the getaway vehicle ready, he goes to prison and later shuns his son when he visits him. However, he became very proud of him after seeing his son's performance of "I'm Still Standing" on a prison television.

Can you tour Sing Sing Prison? ›

We now offer online programs and in person programs and tours. ​​ Our virtual exhibit is now open!

What were the punishments in Sing Sing Prison? ›

For example, in the earliest years of Sing Sing, flogging was the primary form of punishment, until it was outlawed in 1848. The Shower bath then enjoyed its heyday until 1869, when it was in turn supplanted by the paddle.

What is the oldest prison in the United States still in use? ›

The 1798 Penitentiary House, which was the first state prison in New Jersey and the third in the nation after the Walnut Street Jail in Philadelphia and Newgate in New York City, is also the oldest building still in operation as part of an active, working prison in the United States.

Who owns Sing Sing? ›

Not only does a pending licence in the City of Vancouver database confirm this information, but also Sing Sing's owners, Freehouse Collective (the "hospitality arm" of the Donnelly Group), have just announced the addition - along with some other key restructuring news.

Is Sing Sing a real musical? ›

Ginny & Georgia: Sing Sing Isn't a Real Musical, but It's Likely Inspired by This Show - IMDb.

What happened in Sing Sing Prison? ›

Sing Sing Prison was also the site of the infamous “Death House” where 614 executions (including 8 women) by electrocution took place between 1891 and 1963.

What famous people went to Sing Sing Prison? ›

It also became one of the most famous prisons. The notorious bank robber, Willie Sutton, served time in (and later escaped from) Sing Sing, and Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, the infamous Communist spies, died in the electric chair there.

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