Sing Sing
★★★★
I finally got to watch Sing Sing, a film I feel like I’ve been hearing whispers about since late 2023. It had some of the earliest Oscar buzz of any film last year, but didn’t seem to go the distance — which is a shame, because this A24 gem deserves so much more attention.
Based on the real-life RTA (Rehabilitation Through the Arts) program at Sing Sing prison in New York, the film is a powerful portrait of redemption and the transformative power of art. It avoids the typical prison movie tropes, choosing instead to focus on humanity, growth and community inside the walls.
Colman Domingo continues his streak of incredible performances and proves once again he’s an actor’s actor. His Oscar nomination here is richly deserved. But what makes Sing Sing truly remarkable is that many of the men in the film are real-life participants from the RTA program — playing versions of themselves. Their performances are not only authentic, but deeply moving. You don’t need a long backstory — just their presence and vulnerability tell you everything you need to know.
The friendship between Domingo’s character and one of the main inmates (Clarence Maclin) is particularly striking. The inmate (also playing himself) is magnetic — a mix of ferocity and sensitivity — and manages to match Domingo scene for scene, which is no small feat.
Sing Sing doesn’t flinch from showing how constricting and isolating prison can be, yet it never becomes exploitative or overly bleak. It stays grounded in the emotional and creative lifeline these men find in theater. If you love stories that celebrate the human spirit and the redemptive power of art, don’t let Sing Sing pass you by. It deserves to be seen — and remembered.
