Sing Sing doesn’t announce at the beginning that it’s based on a true story, nor does it immediately reveal that many of the actors moving through the fictionalized drama lived the real-life version of the story, that many of them are essentially playing themselves. The meticulous care and resounding empathy that director Greg Kwedar brings to the film means such explanations aren’t really necessary. When they do arrive at the close of the film, they almost feel superfluous. That simple, profound fact is felt in the watching of the film due to the hard and heartfelt authenticity in every detail. The film is about incarcerated men in the Sing Sing Correctional Facility who find purpose through participation in the Rehabilitation Through the Arts program, which gives them the opportunity to develop, stage, and act in theatrical productions. Colman Domingo plays John “Divine G” Whitfield (the real Divine G shares a story credit and has a cameo in the film). He is the de facto star of the ensemble, at least until the arrival of the fiercely charismatic hardened inmate Clarence “Divine Eye” Maclin (one of the actors playing a version of himself). The emotional arcs that Kwedar shapes are familiar in some ways but draw power from the vulnerability and complexity of the performances. Sing Sing is inspiring without ever relying on treacly sentiment. It’s too honest for that, whether about the messiness of collaboration or the multitude of ways that the system needlessly dehumanizes these people behind bars. Kwedar’s film doesn’t give them back their dignity; it recognizes that the dignity was always there.