From CCFF '24 - Sing Sing

Sing Sing [2023]
Dir. Greg Kwedar
105 min.

Editorial Disclaimer: Coverage of the films screening at the 2024 Chicago Critics Film Festival is limited to publishing capsule reviews at this time. This in accordance with each film's review embargo that may or may not have already been formally lifted prior to its theatrical release. As always, please send any grievances, questions, or concerns you may have to film.froth@gmail.com.

A24 Summary: Divine G (Colman Domingo), imprisoned at Sing Sing for a crime he didn’t commit, finds purpose by acting in a theatre group with other incarcerated men. When a wary outsider (Clarence "Divine Eye" Maclin as himself) joins the group, the men decide to stage their first original comedy, in this stirring true story of resilience, humanity, and the transformative power of art, starring an unforgettable ensemble cast of formerly incarcerated actors.

Film

Now that's how you get things started off on a high note. The 2024 Chicago Critics Film Festival led its opening night with the highly anticipated Sing Sing, the breakout film co-written and directed by Greg Kwedar that premiered to rave reviews last fall out of the Toronto International Film Festival. The characters featured and story of Sing Sing is certainly not a work of fiction, nor is it presented as a documentary. I guess you could say the feature film is something closer to a docudrama, one where the true events that inspired the story and the great meta-textual performances in the film are blended and blurred in ways that respects those whom the story is about and told by. Sing Sing is an emotionally intelligent crowd-pleaser that has a spirit and soul that works hard to earn every emotion it renders in its audience.

The film is based on the experiences of actual participants in the Rehabilitation Through the Arts (RTA) program, which originated in 1996 at Sing Sing Correctional Facility in Ossining, New York, and has since expanded to several maximum and minimum security prisons throughout New York State. For nearly three decades, RTA has empowered incarcerated individuals to cultivate life skills through artistic expression, embodying an ethos of human dignity-centric justice rather than punitive measures. In adapting this story for the screen with his co-writer Clint Bentley, Kwedar's script focuses on a small group of prisoners at Sing Sing in the RTA program preparing to put on an original production called, "Breakin' The Mummy's Code." By telling a more contained and intimate story about the psyche of a few individuals, Kwedar earns his film the credibility to address on the systemic issues of an institution that are baked into the fabric of the story, specifically the negative psychological challenges attributed to the traumatic experience of incarceration.

Listening to the talented cast of actors speak at the post-screening Q&A illuminated the challenges and complicated emotions that came with portraying themselves on screen. What they achieve as a unit is incredibly powerful and moving. And I know its only May (and there's no need to start talking about this yet), but I'm unilaterally deciding that it is not too outlandish nor too early to pencil in Colman Domingo as one of the presumptive nominees in Best Actor at next year's Academy Awards. Domingo delivers a balanced but dynamic performance, one where is tasked with vacillating between leading and following according to what the scene is calling for. He often is asked to carry scenes with little to say, which he is more than capable of thanks to his magnetic on-screen presence, but he also does a great deal of give-and-take acting and is generous in his ability to share the screen and hold steady to maximize those around him. Domingo is already one of the most sought after and well-respect actors working today, but I believe this to be the best performance I've seen from him to date.

It is known that the emotional distress, social distress, and interpersonal isolation makes post-prison adjustment process extremely difficult for many former prisoners, which leads to an increased likelihood of recidivism. Something I learned after the movie is that less than 3% of RTA members return to prison compared to the national recidivism rate of 60%, which is staggering statistic to say the least. As a film, Sing Sing showcases this redemptive power of art through the eyes of former incarcerated inmates telling their own story as they reckon with their own identities and use performance as a way to heal and transform. This is an honest film made with great care and respect for its subject that has a lot to say about collaboration, community, and camaraderie.

Sing Sing is scheduled for a wider theatrical release in the United States starting on July 12, 2024.

Froth

Bitterly refreshing or refreshingly bitter? While I am regularly drawn to the IPA section on a beer menu, I am usually partial to New England-style IPAs, where the flavor emphasis is typically fruit-forward, smooth, and bit less bitter. For my most recent visit to Corridor Brewery & Provisions in the center of the Southport Corridor in Chicago, I opted for the Six Paper Joint, a West Coast IPA that was crisper, drier, and bitter-er than my palette is used to. Maybe not my favorite beer I've ordered in recent memory, but ultimately I'm glad I went off script and ordered this – even just to try it.