Movies set in prison tend to be relatively dark, as their focus is typically on the difficulties faced by the prisoners, with mere survival often front-of-mind. It would be wrong to say that the new film Sing Sing is free from such darkness, but the story it tells is one that has more hope in it than you might expect.

Divine G (Colman Domingo) is one of around 1,500 inmates at the Sing Sing Correctional Facility in New York, and one of many who claim that they are incarcerated for a crime they didn’t commit. As a way to lighten his load while waiting and hoping for his appeal to be accepted, he co-founds a theater group called Rehabilitation Through the Arts (RTA) that lets a small group of prisoners sort through their feelings in a socially-acceptable way.

The film follows the group as they welcome a new member, Divine Eye (Clarence Maclin), a guy who almost always has his guard up. Instead of the usual drama that the group likes to perform, Divine Eye suggests doing a comedy. The group’s leader, Brent Buell (Paul Raci), soon puts together a script that combines a variety of disparate elements, but getting the temperamental Divine Eye to fully buy in to what the group is doing comes down to how persuasive Divine G is.

Directed and co-written by Greg Kwedar, and co-written by Clint Bentley, the film doesn’t rely so much on story as it does on the emotions that come with being part of the group and being in prison in the first place. Lip service is paid to the crimes members of the group may or may not have committed — Divine G was convicted of second-degree murder — with the emphasis instead on how RTA is helping them become better people.

Based on the real program that’s still in effect at Sing Sing and five other New York prisons, one of the most remarkable things about the film is that Domingo, Raci, and Sean San José (who plays a character named Mike Mike) are the sole professional actors in the cast. Maclin and the other members of the group are either former inmates who were part of RTA or had some connection to the program, and their acting skills in this film clearly show how effective it has been.

The depth of the story is slowly but surely revealed as each of the men figure out their respective characters in the play. Though Kwedar and Bentley don’t explicitly talk about this aspect, one can only imagine the power of being able to escape into a world where the men don’t have to ponder their day-to-day existence. That’s in addition to discovering sides of themselves that they may not have ever thought about, something that’s unique to those with a love for acting.

Domingo is, quite simply, one of the finest actors working today, and this performance only burnishes his glowing reputation. He and Raci are both former Oscar nominees, but they never try to outshine the amateurs in the cast. Instead, they are generous with their talent, helping to elevate everyone else. There’s not one second of falseness in the film, and much of it can be chalked up to those efforts.

The prison industrial complex can tar everyone convicted of a crime with the same brush, and films like Sing Sing are essential in not only giving an alternate view of prisoners, but also showing that programs like RTA can work to prevent recidivism. It also demonstrates that you don’t have to have a long resume to be a great actor.

---

Sing Sing is now playing in select theaters.