Sing Sing (2024) Review

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3dXc6P3zH8

THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

It’s not easy to keep your happy place when the going is rough but as long you still find yourself capable to do so, you’ll be okay. 


PLOT


Sing Sing takes place in 2005 and follows John Whitfield aka Divine G, who has been in the titular Correctional Facility since 1988 due to being falsely accused of murder. Hoping to maintain a purpose while he waits for evidence to prove his innocence, he participates in the RTA program with a theater group under the guidance of theater director Brent Buell. John has been respected overtime for giving emotional depth as an acting talent and also emerges as playwright. When preparing for a new play does he recruit another inmate named Clarence Maclin aka Divine Eye, who’s more aggressive than the rest of the group. Personalities do quickly clash between both men upon recruitment because the latter would called out of hypocrisy wanting to do the only dramatic role of a comedy he pushed for. Through acting exercises however does he start opening up enough to take his skill seriously, which impresses John and Buell. After a sample is approved by the prison’s board of executives, John would be heartbroken learning his friend and fellow inmate Miguel aka ‘Mike-Mike’ would die of a brain aneurysm. He would also have another clemency hearing and learn another man confess of the same crime he’s incarcerated for, but his parole is denied when the board assumes he’s faking how therapeutic he feels when with the RTA program. With Clarence getting his parole earned instead, it frustrates him so much that he has a breakdown and tries instigating a fight with him before quitting the program. Only after days of isolation do the two make amends and Divine Eye tells Divine G he’s always welcome back in the group. By the time the plays goes on as planned and becomes a success does the former be released from the facility. The film would end in a seven year time jump where Clarence picks up John who finally gets his parole approved, hopeful for the future ahead.


THOUGHTS


I watch so many movies because I want to escape from reality and the emotional weight that comes from it. People participate in plays for that very reason apart from the joy that comes from creating visual storytelling that’ll stun audiences for generations. It moves me that this same feeling can come from people in a predicament they can’t really get out of. Director/cowriter Greg Kwedar was in turn moved with the real life stories from Clarence Maclin himself that he had to pay it forward in crafting a whole new story that is able to inspire those in periods of self doubt that things do get better when you trust the process of trying something that can create a new purpose in the remainder of your life. As long as you can take the time to embrace vulnerability, then that creates the process you’re looking for otherwise you’ll be stuck where you don’t want to be. Playing a fictional version of himself along with other real life inmates, Clarence is able to show off this past period of his life in order to inspire others to make a personal change. At the time, all he knew what to do is be toughly guarded and nothing more than a hard ass. When getting to see how genuinely into it everyone is and have a compassionate mentor the way Paul Raci depicted Brent, he knew he found a more calm way to express himself, which he got the hang of overtime. Undoubtedly, he doesn’t get to go so far without meeting a guy who knew just how to be so creative. In his second Oscar nomination, Colman Domingo is spectacular as Divine G because he was constantly resilient in his effort to be free from a place he doesn’t belong and expresses it onstage each & every time. He shares that mentorship atmosphere along Brent because he knows the confusion every other inmate felt at first and knows just how to escape the feeling of despair long enough to say the trial & tribulation is all worth it. He maintains this motivation mostly because he has a family he was taken away from and wants to see them again, but when losing a friend on the inside, it felt like his world was crumbling down again. It stung to see him lose Mike-Mike because Sean San Jose had his own warmth he brought to the table, having most content with the life he went through, which is why it was even harder to accept his fate. And when he was doubted of having genuine growth, that struck me too because it felt fowl to ask an innocent man if they were faking such a thing. With those back to back moments happening, you couldn’t blame John’s breakdown because it made him feel all he had gone through had not been worth after all. While it wasn’t what he had in mind, it was just waiting a little longer that led to the pay off he was waiting for. I was more moved seeing Clarence pick him up in the end instead of his family because it reminded me how impenetrable brotherhood can be. Clarence owed his life to John for having his back on the inside and picking him up was returning the favor. Whatever futures they go through either separately or together, I can only hope they get to enjoy every bit of it with their freedom. In short, Sing Sing is a fantastic film from 2024 for its stability in spreading the encouragement in finding that comfort zone when surrounded by the construct of self doubt. If you want the kind of movie that encourages you to not give up, this one’ll do it for you.