Fran Kranz, 2021.
Whenever friends converse about films and make recommendations to each other, you think long and hard about what films to recommend. More importantly, you always want to portray your choice as convincingly as possible and want to do that film justice to ensure that person goes away, watches your choice, and agrees with you. Mass is my choice, and this is why.
To give a brief plot summary, two sets of grieving parents meet and discuss a tragedy involving their sons. Being completely transparent, this is all the film entails. It is simply 4 adults, sitting at a table, talking... and crying a bit, but mainly talking. The 4 parents are played by Jason Isaacs, Ann Dowd, Martha Plimpton and Reed Birney. Dowd was rewarded with a Bafta nomination for this performance.
When I think of films that have the best acting I have ever seen, I go to two films. Manchester By The Sea, and this film. Mass is a raw drama that plays more like a thriller, and is simply one of the best uses of dialogue in a film. It is a film that once I watched it, I immediately decided that all I want to do was write a script. If I ever create something a tenth as good as this, it would be miraculous.
Mass had a small budget and a small release to match. Sky Cinema was able to distribute Mass in the UK, and in the US, just 4 theatres showed the film.
From the very first scene with all four sitting round the table, you can immediately feel the tension, and weight of everyone in the room's shoulders. The writer and director, Fran Kranz has crafted an emotional, tense and devastating portrait of these couples attempting to come around to one of the worst things that can happen to a parent, the loss of a child. The natural, if not awkward, ebb and flow of the conversations between these sets of parents feel tight with tension that gives the audience compelling, but cataclysmic drama. All 4 characters each show completely different sides of grief and this only adds to the raw emotion the film gives out.
I believe that not speaking about certain aspects of the plot, will only heighten your experience and be even more impactful for you. This could be a stage play and is acted with as much drama as one. I think this is Jason Isaacs best performance that I have seen from him, however, everyone is phenomenal in this.
If you are the type of person who enjoys a film that is dialogue heavy then I couldn't recommend this more. I recognise that this type of film isn't everyone's bag but I urge anyone to watch it and give it a try. The runtime is just shy of 2 hours and I am positive anyone will get something of worth out of this film.
My Rating: 9.5/10
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