Knock on Wood

In my high school philosophy class, each one of us was given an educational subject to defend in a hypothetical situation – after a catastrophic event, humanity must take rafts to a new world, but they have limited room. We had to argue and debate as to why experts in our subject should be given precious space. I picked theatre, arguably the least practical of most traditional school subjects, but I wasn’t about to go down without a fight. Now I know, if that debate had happened five years later, there’s no better argument for the importance of theatre than Sing Sing.

Set in the Sing Sing Correctional Facility, a real-life maximum security prison near New York City, Greg Kwedar’s film follows a small group of prisoners in the Rehabilitation Through the Arts program as they stage a production of an original comedy. Alongside professional actors Colman Domingo and Paul Raci, Sing Sing features a supporting cast of formerly incarcerated men, themselves alumni of the RTA program.

It’s this ingenious casting that brings a vital authenticity to Sing Sing – the formerly incarcerated men are able to tell their own stories in a way that feels true to the spirit of the program, within a film that treats their situation with the necessary gravity while maintaining a levity that becomes crucial to the film’s tone.

Domingo plays Divine G, a wrongfully convicted playwright and founding member of the RTA (the real Divine G cameos in a scene, asking Domingo to sign one of his plays) in what may be his best performance yet. Domingo is easily one of the strongest actors working today, and he’s overdue for his first Oscar – his first nomination only came last year for Rustin, an otherwise unremarkable biopic that doesn’t have much going for it beyond Domingo’s natural gravitas. His turn as Divine G is both empathetic and heartbreaking, a truly singular showcase that I have not seen replicated so far this year. Not many actors could single-handedly sell the line “Dying is easy. Comedy is hard” but Domingo delivers it casually and compellingly without a second thought. The man’s an absolute pro, and a small-scale film with big ideas about humanity is the perfect vehicle for his talent.

If there’s a compelling argument for the place of theatre in society, it’s this movie. It’s living proof of the process, that life can be changed through art, and art itself can be therapeutic, constructive, and beneficial to human life. It reminds us why life is worth living, and that our redemption is in our own hands, and the hands of the people we come to trust and love. Sing Sing doesn’t take the traditional approach to this kind of story, focusing on both the arc of the ensemble and Divine G’s journey through his pursuit of systematic clemency. Clarence “Divine Eye” Maclin, who plays himself, is another standout (delivering what might be my favorite supporting performance of the year), and Sean San José is excellent as Divine G’s best friend, Mike Mike. Those three are at the center of the film’s brilliant company, which balances the intensity and vivacity needed to survive in a maximum security penitentiary.

After making a splash at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival, Sing Sing is finally releasing in theaters, and I implore all those reading this to make an effort to seek it out. It’s one of those unique experiences that won’t connect with everyone as much as it did with me, but if it goes underseen, it could go ignored in the overwhelming pantheon of summer releases. It’s in a limited run now but it will go wide on August 2. Do yourself a favor and check it out. You won’t regret it.