Colman Domingo, left, and Clarence Maclin in Sing Sing (A24)

Director Greg Kwedar’s stereotype-busting prison drama, set in the titular maximum-security facility in Ossining, NY, centers on incarcerated men participating in the Rehabilitation Through the Arts program. As one participant plainly states, “We’re here to be human again.” The storyline follows this group’s upcoming endeavor as they rehearse and mount a comical pastiche that features Freddy Krueger, Prince Hamlet, and a time-travelling Ancient Egyptian, all under the patient direction of volunteer director Brent (Paul Raci), who is based on an actual mentor.

Sing Sing stands apart from so many Big House movies. Dare I say, its outlook is a rarity, an optimistic film set in a prison, shot on location in the spaces where the real-life RTA rehearses and performs, as well as in two decommissioned New York correctional facilities. Most of it was filmed with a handheld camera, which lends an off-the-cuff pseudo-documentary feel, with the filmmakers leaning heavily toward individual close-ups. In keeping with the theme of redemption through the arts, the screenwriters portray the men as individuals and not as criminals—there is no obligatory rundown of everyone’s rap sheet. (Before the film’s production, Kwedar and co-screenwriter Clint Bentley taught filmmaking at New York’s Greenhaven Correctional Facility.)

However, the onscreen prison population feels sparse; the production team had restrictions on whom and where they filmed. Nearly all the scenes involve no more than a dozen men or so. Additionally, there are also familiar beats to the “let’s put on a show” scenario: the auditions, an actor not knowing his lines, and the obligatory temperamental breakdown. Granted this takes place during a tech rehearsal, which are typically long and tedious. No wonder.

Yet whatever preconceived ideas or questions viewers may have about the depiction of prison life will be swept aside by the frank, vulnerable performances by the supporting cast surrounding and upstaging the star, Domingo Coleman. Perhaps the secret ingredient is that nearly all of the RTA thespians in the film are themselves former program participants, playing versions of themselves with full-blown honesty.

When the group’s ringleader, John Whitfield, who goes by the moniker Divine G (Domingo), gives a pep talk to a skeptical newcomer (Clarence Maclin) who has vastly grown in his acting chops, he anoints him as an artist. That is certainly the case for the rookie and his fellow cast members. On- or offstage, it will be hard to find a more captivating ensemble.