33/39

These are the actual audition tapes used to cast the film

Plot

Divine G, imprisoned in Sing Sing for a crime he didn’t commit, finds purpose by acting in a theater troupe with other incarcerated men in this story of resilience, humanity, and the transformative power of art. The film opens with the cast auditioning for various roles in a play. The group has been criticized for not doing comedy, even though their previous play was A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which is a comedy.

Blades composed by Bryce Dessner

In Late Night with Seth Meyers: Anna Faris/Colman Domingo/Jose Medeles (2024). When everything is stripped from someone’s life, finding something to keep going must be nearly impossible. The same goes for those incarcerated, facing an uncertain future with an indefinite duration.

Realistically, in such difficult circumstances, you can’t help but wonder if rehabilitation will actually be a viable option

But for some, hope lies in a seemingly unlikely source: art, as chronicled in this fact-based drama about the inmate theater program at New York City’s Sing Sing maximum-security prison. Featuring a cast of professional actors as well as current and former members of this talented troupe, viewers witness the ups and downs of these men as they struggle to make sense—and hope—of their time behind bars. Director Greg Kwedar’s second feature takes an up-close look at the lives of these aspiring actors, both in terms of their stage work and their daily lives in conditions most of us probably can’t even imagine.

In this way, this offering takes viewers on a rollercoaster of emotions, from uplifting joy to heartfelt disappointment, revealing the immense strength of character that drives these individuals

While the film’s narrative is admittedly a bit flimsy and at times convoluted, it is more than compensated for by the film’s excellent acting, led by Colman Domingo, Clarence Maclin, Paul Raci and Sean San Jose, who, like virtually everyone else in this magnificent ensemble, bring an unparalleled depth to their characters and relationships that is certainly among the best work in these areas that I’ve seen in many years. This is especially moving when you know that many of the people involved in this production can relate to their situations from their own experiences, giving this release a level of unfettered authenticity rarely seen on the big screen. For its efforts, “Sing Sing” has a good chance of being a contender for the 2024 awards season, especially in the acting categories, showing us what’s possible when we allow our passions to come to the surface on their own, especially when we have nothing to lose by doing so, a true source of inspiration from where we might least expect it.