Sing Sing throws us into a relatable and familiar scenario. The rivalry of an unknown stepping on the toes of a king who thought they ruled the roost could be at school, college, or a sports team. But this is New York’s Sing Sing maximum-security prison.

Divine Eye is an aggressive, unpredictable inmate whose application for the Rehabilitation Through Arts (RTA) programme at Sing Sing is accepted by Divine G and Mike Mike. Although dismissive of acting exercises, Eye subverts the group G had effectively led, introducing the idea that their next regular show should be a comedy mash-up featuring time travel and even taking the role of Hamlet from G at auditions. 

G and Eye establish a growing trust as they come up for clemency hearings, and G convinces Eye that it is worth using the tools of the system, no matter how futile it seems. As their harsh world is rocked by grief, disappointment, and despair, Eye emerges as the spirit of the transformative and therapeutic process G always believed RTA could be. When G hits his darkest point, Eye may be the only person who can help him. 

Sing Sing isn’t just based on actual events and incredible true stories but reconstructs them with former inmates. Most of the cast are former Sing Sing RTA members replaying their roles as we watch an inspired project move from rehearsals to show.

The screenplay earned Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar an Academy Award nomination for adapted screenplay, as it’s based on both John H. Richardson’s account, The Sing Sing Follies, and the play within the play, Breakin’ the Mummy’s Code by Brent Buell.

Sing Sing isn’t a violent film; it’s all insinuation, threat and relatable anecdotes. Bu brutality is forced upon the inmates. As director, Kwedar keeps attention on the play’s production, allowing the reality of the inmate’s harsh life and the world outside to impose themselves in powerful moments. The layers of difficulty under the play’s rehearsals appear in stops and starts and are boosted by including former inmate actors and Kwedar’s almost documentary techniques. The introductions to most characters are extended auditions straight to the camera.

Sing Sing is backed by the stunning cinematography of Pat Scola and the unobtrusive score of Bryce Dessner, which flits between strings and synth. It’s a good looking and sounding film, but among beautiful performances, Colman Domingo is the beating heart, capturing a range of emotions from fearlessness to despair. The edgy, mesmerising performance of Clarence “Divine Eye” Maclin is the perfect foil. It all helps to sell brilliantly absurd lines during our drop into a notorious prison: 

“It was always waiting for me. It’s like Hamlet, all he wants is Maid Marion and he’s going to try and take on the whole Roman Empire.”

We hear about the inescapable roller coaster of life from the outside and see it on the inside, but that doesn’t make the end any less liberating for us or the two leads.