Title – Sing Sing (2023) 

Director – Greg Kwedar (Transpecos) 

Cast – Colman Domingo, Clarence Maclin, Paul Raci, Sean San Jose

Plot – Inmates in Sing Sing prison work together to deliver an original play that allows them and their audience to escape the realities of their lives and remind themselves of what it means to be human once more.  

“We here to become human again, to put on nice clothes and dance around and enjoy the things that is not in our reality”

Review by Eddie on 13/02/2025

The little film that could, A24’s critical and awards darling Sing Sing may not be a film that has managed to truly imprint itself on the broader movie-watching public (yet) but there’s a strong case to suggest that Greg Kwedar’s breakthrough drama is right up there with the best of this years Oscar players. 

Itself nominated for 3 Academy Awards, including for its lead performer Colman Domingo and its fantastic adapted screenplay, Sing Sing struggled to identify itself in a crowded marketplace in most territories in the later half of 2024 but there’s every likelihood that Kwedar’s heartfelt and humanistic tale continues to find the audience it deserved initially as it resonates and impacts viewers from around the world. 

Made up of a cast mainly sourced from the real life Sing Sing prison theatre trope of which this feature film is centred around, Sing Sing is as close as you’d get to a feature film becoming a documentary filled with all the warts and all honesty and soul the best of that medium provides as Kwedar follows Domingo’s playwright and inmate John Divine G Whitfield and his fellow inmate theatre group collaborators as they combine forces to put on an original production that allows them the escape and human elements they crave in their incarcerated lives. 

There’s not exactly a run of the mill plot running through the core of Sing Sing as Divine G and his partners in crime (no pun intended) set about bringing their vision to life but it doesn’t take long for Kwedar’s film to grip you and not let you go until the final credits roll, rolling in as a fresh belief in humanity and the human condition is riding high thanks to what has transpired across the previous 100 minutes of screen-time. 

Based off the real Divine G’s experiences in the the prison system and his encounters finding solace in the ability to become a storyteller and actor while being an inmate at the same time, Sing Sing finds beauty, heartache and all that comes between from its grounding in real and tangible roots and at the same time unearths one of the most impressive feature film debuts at the same time in the form of Clarence Maclin. 

Playing himself, it’s no easy feat to out-act an esteemed stage and film performer such as Domingo but Maclin is nothing short of a revelation here and it’s a mighty shame the Academy weren’t able to find a place for him in the Best Supporting Actor field. 

His complex creation comes as fully realised as you’re ever likely to see in a cinematic outing and its the truth and rawness of Maclin’s performance that ensures Sing Sing stands out from the crowd as while its messages and themes aren’t at all new or revelatory in nature, they’re explored and dealt with here with such grace, compassion and understanding that it’s impossible not to be moved by this quiet yet powerful drama that deserves a long and prosperous shelf-life. 

Final Say – 

A unique and moving movie-going experience that is bought to life by a large collection of “real” performers, Sing Sing is equally uplifting as it is heart-breaking, providing viewers with an experience they won’t soon forget. 

4 1/2 Shakespeare monologues out of 5