MASS

Made on a budget of less than $300,000, shot over 2 weeks, and released in only 4 cinemas across America before going straight to streaming, Mass is the epitome of what this feature is about.

It is a low budget film that has not been seen, or celebrated, by enough people.

An intimate portrayal, and exploration, of grief, Mass details a snapshot in the lives of our characters. The meeting of four people, and the conversation they subsequently have. Its tension is built not from set pieces, but from character.

Set, for the most part, in one room. Furnished with snacks no one wants. Decorations no one sees. And a simple, circular, table which may well be a mountain, such is the gulf between its inhabitants.

Those around the table are two couples. On one side Gail and Jay (Martha Plimpton and – hello to – Jason Isaacs) and on the other Linda and Richard (Ann Dowd and Reed Birney). The forced congeniality of their initial meeting hinting at the true nature of why they are there.

As the layers of the story are gradually peeled back it becomes clear that both families have been impacted by a tragedy from their past; The details of which are drip fed to the audience throughout.

Both families are suffering, even if each individual is looking for something different.

Looking for answers. Or Understanding. Or closure, direction, forgiveness.

But they are all suffering. They are all victims of this tragedy.

Director Fran Kranz – in their feature debut – presents the characters without judgement. Neither side of the conversation are presented as right or wrong, rather they are just allowed to be who they are. The person that the events of their shared pasts have left them. The opinions, and their feelings, presented with respect, and the understanding of where each find themselves.

The slow reveal of the past is never played for shock or cheap twists. It never feels exploitative to families that may have gone through similar experiences. Again, it is just presented as a moment in time. The natural conversations and arguments of two families connected, yet distanced, by what they have collectively been through.

Mass is a brilliant, devastating, beautiful, powerful, difficult film. It demands that you allow it patience, room to grow around you, but those who are willing to give it will be justly rewarded.