Many Hollywood drama set within a prison’s walls have the same goal, and it’s a noble one: to depict the people inside as more than inmates. Most of those efforts fail because, no matter how the men’s lives are depicted, they become about the incarceration itself, either living with it or escaping from it. Sing Sing, the astonishing new film from director Greg Kwedar, breaks the mold by exploring its inmates as people with the potential to be so much more. It’s a film about brotherhood, expression, acceptance, and the power of art to change the lives of people who society has given up on.
Sing Sing begins with a prison siren. The infamous correctional facility’s inmates hit the ground instantly, including Colman Domingo’s John “Divine G” Whitfield. Whitfield doesn’t look dangerous; he kinda looks like a book nerd, but he hits the floor and lays so flat it’s like he’s trying to melt into the grass and be invisible. It doesn’t get much better when the event is over. Guards rifle through each cell, tossing the dehumanizingly-small rooms and leaving them a junky mess. Fortunately for Whitfield, he’s got the RTA program (Rehabilitation Through Arts) to escape to, and he’s not alone.
Sing Sing could be considered a feature-length advertisement for the RTA and that would be perfectly okay. Programs like this, which seek to give these men something to live for by introducing them to music, art, theater, and more, have been wildly successful across the nation. In the case of RTA, which currently operates at multiple prisons throughout New York, the recidivism rate is reportedly 3% for past participants, much lower than the national average. In short: those who participate in RTA get out and live better lives, they become better people. And isn’t that what the point of a prison sentence should be?
That’s a major question hanging throughout Sing Sing because we know in reality that’s not how things go. We are the most incarcerated nation in the world. We lock people up for everything and nothing at the same time; we have for-profit prisons for a damn reason. One thing this beautifully humanist film doesn’t do is explore the reasons why the RTA participants are behind bars; it doesn’t ask whether they were locked up justifiably or if they were victims of a sketchy justice system. It’s about “trusting the process”, trusting in one another, doing the work, because the show must go on.
Based on the Esquire magazine article “The Sing Sing Follies”, the film is based on the RTA’s production of Breakin’ the Mummy Code. No, you won’t have seen it playing at your local theatre house. The bonkers hurricane of sci-fi, historical epic, and horror tropes features the likes of Hamlet, Freddy Krueger, pirates, gunslingers, and yes, a mummy.
Domingo, gives another soulful, enormous performance as Whitfield (the real Whitfield has a cameo as a devoted book fan), a larger-than-life figure with an actor’s spirit and a heart for community. He has helped nurture and guide the RTA program through its many performances, seeing participants come and go. Whitfield throws himself into every aspect, writing the plays, guiding the men through the crafting and learning of their roles, and being a shoulder to lean on when the emotions run too high. Acting is a form of expression and as the movie notes correctly, men don’t often get the chance to express themselves as openly as this. You never know how some are going to react to being that vulnerable.
You’ll hear a lot about Domingo, and for good reason. But you’ll hear more about his co-star Clarence “Divine Eye” Maclin, who plays himself with such raw ferocity and shocking sensitivity that it steals every scene. Whitfield and Maclin make a combustible pair at first. Maclin knows the system and expects the least from it. He’s looking out for himself, and will do anything to survive. He’s defensive, angry, and dangerous, but Whitfield sees in him the spirit of an actor. When Maclin applies for the program, the other men, also no shrinking violets, think he’ll be a terrible fit. But Whitfield takes a shot on Maclin, then finds himself stunned when the newcomer outshines him in an audition for the role of Hamlet. Maclin offers surprising insights that make Whitfield do a double-take. In one scene, Maclin suggests whoever wrote “King Lear” must’ve done a bid. High praise that Shakespeare probably wouldn’t know what to do with, but it’s a way of showing the way art can reach anyone regardless of their situation in life.
Proof of the program’s success can be measured in the cast. Only Domingo and Oscar-nominated Sound of Metal actor Paul Raci count as professional actors. The rest are members of the RTA alumni, playing versions of themselves and adding layers of authenticity as they relive their experiences inside those walls. It couldn’t have been easy, and we see them grapple with the good and the bad of being back inside.
There’s a lot to admire about Sing Sing even before you step one foot inside the theater. Kwedar, who spent time as an RTA instructor, and co-writer Clint Bentley, joined with producers to implement a community-based pay structure. Everyone, including Domingo, have equal stake in the film, earn the same pay, and reap the same rewards. That feeling of collaboration, of trusting in others fully, courses through Sing Sing, making it impossible to not be inspired to do better, and to be better.
Sing Sing opens nationwide on August 2nd.
