Sing Sing Film Review: A Melody of Hope 

Sing Sing is a beautifully written exploration of freedom, creativity, and finding purpose in the places you’d least expect.

This optimistic focus on friendship and compassion is exactly what makes Sing Sing such a profoundly beautiful piece of work; it’s not about conflict or anger, as it so easily could have been, but rather finding beauty in the darkest corners of life.

Inspired by the true story of an amateur theatre group coming together in the Sing Sing Correctional Facility in New York, Kwedar’s film centres around two convicts who come together within the program and form a deep bond that’s born from their conflicting outlooks on life. Divine G is a creative at heart: he’s a playwright, one of the founding members of the prison’s Rehabilitation Through the Arts programme, looking to give his fellow performers an outlet for their emotions to bleed through on the stage. Divine Eye is a cynic, hardened by his time in the facility and untrusting of the men around him. But despite their different views, these two men are quickly bonded by the power of art and performance.

Sing Sing is a story that easily could’ve leant too strongly into its sentimental style and come across as fake or corny, exploiting the struggles of these real-life figures for an inspirational story that will make the audience feel good for two hours. But that couldn’t be further away from Kwedar’s approach: by including the real people who lived through this story in the cast, filming on location at the facility, and never shying away from the darker corners of the prison experience, Sing Sing manages to feel wholeheartedly genuine from start to finish. The reality of these characters’ experiences bleeds through the screen, with the screenplay’s naturalistic dialogue and complex character dynamics often blurring the lines between fiction and reality.

The most striking aspect of Sing Sing that doesn’t necessarily come across in the trailer or promotional materials is just how hilarious the dynamics between these characters are. There are so many throwaway jokes and funny line deliveries that had the entire theatre laughing, from slapstick performances when the characters are onstage to defensive one-liners as they navigate the vulnerability of acting. It’s just as much of a comedy as it is a drama, which allows Kwedar and Clint Bentley’s screenplay to effectively explore how the freedom of creativity brings out laughter and positivity in the most suppressive of locations.

The decision to have real-life figures from the prison play themselves in Sing Sing is an intelligent one, as it makes this location feel truly rich and authentic where a group of actors might not have been able to. The characters’ struggles and hardships feel all the more powerful when you know how real their experiences are, which strongly enhances the emotional side of the narrative. However, despite the excellent ensemble, Colman Domingo is undoubtedly the standout of this cast. He delivers one of his fiercest, most astounding performances to date as Divine G, traversing a huge range of emotions and allowing his character to serve as a struggling beacon of positivity in a sea of hurt and frustration. His whole journey is perfectly plotted and flawlessly acted, giving this narrative a firm cornerstone around which everything else seamlessly orbits.

Sing Sing is not only the best film from this year’s Edinburgh Film Festival (so far!), but one of the best films of the entire year. It’s an emotional, inspirational, life-affirming story that represents the best of humanity, shining a light on the heartwarming importance of being vulnerable and expressive, even in the most toxically masculine and repressive of environments. 

Sing Sing was screened at the Edinburgh Film Festival on August 17-18, 2024. The film had a limited theatrical release in the US on July 12 and will be out in UK & Irish cinemas from August 30.