Greg Kwedar’s “Sing Sing” takes place in a maximum-security jail and depicts the true Rehabilitation By means of the Arts (RTA) program.
Prisoners incarcerated at Sing Sing Correctional Facility in New York partake in theatrical productions and actor workshops.
It’s been filmed as a pseudo-documentary, with the vast majority of the operating time specializing in the prisoners as they change into actors. The pushed amateurs battle and excel with their director to arrange for a manufacturing that’s an amalgam of genres they created collectively.
Including to the texture of realism? The movie was shot in buildings that used to operate as prisons and key members of the supporting solid are former prisoners who participated within the RTA program. If this sounds just like the movie will likely be heavy-handed, preachy and really feel like a PSA, I’m blissful to report that that is nothing like that.
“Sing Sing” focuses on the tireless director (Paul Raci from “Sound of Steel”) and an inmate named John (Colman Domingo) who’s invested within the newest play but in addition anxiously awaits an upcoming parole listening to.
Kwedar’s movie sustains its documentary really feel not solely from the filmmaking however the performing, which is a credit score to how persuasive the performances are. The scenes that really feel like narrative busywork (just like the eventual parole listening to or the primary time a prisoner has been out in public in years) are given a recent, uncooked interpretation.
The let’s-put-on-a-show angle solely sometimes wanders within the second act however even the inevitable narrative necessities don’t drag this into formulation. There’s suspense within the determination of John’s parole officers, in addition to the questions as as to whether the play being rehearsed will likely be prepared by opening night time, not to mention cohere into one thing good.
The scene the place the actors are instructed by their director to mentally go to the very best second of their lives and share it with each other is one in all many who made me cry. I used to be taken by the rawness right here, in addition to the compassion.
“Sing Sing” is a tribute and demonstration of theater’s transformative energy – whoever these males are and regardless of the specifics of their sentence, they offer their all and extra to the chance to carry out.
Ciara Lacy’s highly effective documentary “Out of State” (2017) and Michael Almereyda’s “This So-Known as Catastrophe” (2003) a fly-on-the-wall have a look at an all-star manufacturing of a Sam Shephard play, are two impactful works that discover the topics inside “Sing Sing.”
“Ghostlight,” a bit of sleeper that made waves earlier within the yr, likewise confirmed how theater can create a group of artists that gives consolation, even therapeutic.
Domingo’s efficiency is extraordinary. I’ve been a fan of his for some time (of all issues, Colman’s scene-stealing flip within the 2020 “Candyman” remake made me take discover of his work). It’s simple to pinpoint why Colman is so distinctive right here: good luck catching him act.
The ensemble round him is likewise, unforced and genuine of their work.
When “Sing Sing” addresses the lives inside and out of doors the jail, and the way inmates are working their manner by means of the system, it’s compelling. But the vast majority of the movie is in regards to the rehearsal course of and the common manner establishing belief and authority within the firm of actors proves each bit as important as line memorization.
“Sing Sing” resists simple manipulation, prison-movie formulation and even social commentary. As a substitute, this impactful and engrossing drama displays on how inventive collaborations present true escape and lasting bonds.
That is simply the most effective movies of 2024.
Three and a Half stars