Mass

Name: Mass
Genre: Drama
Released: October 8, 2021
Duration: 110 min
Rating: 81
Cast: Ann Dowd, Breeda Wool, Campbell Spoor, Jason Isaacs, Kagen Albright

2021

METASCORE

Universal acclaim based on 33 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 49 Ratings

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7.7

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7.7	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 49 Ratings

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Mass

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Movie Details & Credits

Bleecker Street | Release Date: October 8, 2021 | PG-13

Starring: Ann Dowd, Breeda Wool, Campbell Spoor, Jason Isaacs, Kagen Albright, Martha Plimpton, Michael White, Michelle N. Carter, Reed Birney

Summary: Years after an unspeakable tragedy tore their lives apart, two sets of parents (Reed Birney and Ann Dowd, Jason Isaacs and Martha Plimpton), agree to talk privately in an attempt to move forward.

Director: Fran Kranz

Genre(s): Drama

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 110 min

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Critic Reviews

100

The Telegraph Tim Robey

Jan 21, 2022

Not one of the quartet misses the opportunity to do some of their very best work here. Read full review

Slashfilm Ethan Anderton

Feb 1, 2021

Mass is a masterful directorial debut for Fran Kranz. Read full review

Richard Lawson

Oct 9, 2021

It sounds strange to say of a film about such impossible sorrow, but Mass is thoroughly entertaining. Or maybe engrossing is a better word. Its incisive dialogue and nuanced performances demand our attention, inviting us into a roiling weather system of guilt and sadness. The experience proves oddly nourishing, clarifying. Read full review

Kim Hughes

Oct 14, 2021

A sad, poignant, dialogue-driven film destined for successful post-film life as a theatre production, writer/director Fran Kranz’s debut about two sets of parents on opposing sides of a tragedy locates the humanity in the seemingly endless, peculiarly American saga of school shootings. It also celebrates forgiveness. Read full review

The Guardian Peter Bradshaw

Jan 20, 2022

Mass is performed with impeccable intelligence and sensitivity, although sometimes it feels like an exercise in award-winning acting. But I admit it: the final, unexpected dialogue scene, though arguably as stagey and showy as everything else, does deliver a punch. Read full review

Ignatiy Vishnevetsky

Oct 6, 2021

The cast carries the film; Dowd, as Linda, is especially terrific. Yet the feeling that one is watching a latter-day teleplay is hard to shake: The unvisual, periodically clumsy direction never finds a way around the confined space or the ugly lighting. One can applaud Kranz’s restraint. Read full review

Alonso Duralde

Feb 1, 2021

Actor-turned-filmmaker Fran Kranz’s choice of subject matter for his feature debut is certainly timely and provocative, but the emotions are too big and too messily human to fit into the tight box he has constructed to contain them. Read full review

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User Reviews

aydge89

Mar 6, 2022

Intense minimalist drama. Supremely well acted and written. A movie like this relies on the strength of its cast and the four main performers all put in an equally sensational performance. The writing is also beautifully nuanced, offering a fresh perspective on well worn themes. Would be aIntense minimalist drama. Supremely well acted and written. A movie like this relies on the strength of its cast and the four main performers all put in an equally sensational performance. The writing is also beautifully nuanced, offering a fresh perspective on well worn themes. Would be a 10 if not for the Judy character, who was unnecessary.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

CLAYTAYLOR21

Jan 24, 2022

Mass is a special film that I've never seen anything like. Fran Kranz outdid himself in his directorial debut writing one of the best scripts of the year. He also got marvelous performances out of his actors with Jason Isaacs being the standout to me. The combination of the powerful writingMass is a special film that I've never seen anything like. Fran Kranz outdid himself in his directorial debut writing one of the best scripts of the year. He also got marvelous performances out of his actors with Jason Isaacs being the standout to me. The combination of the powerful writing and emotional performances makes this story heartbreaking to watch and impossible to forget. I was also very impressed with the cinematography and editing. For a one-room film with four people sitting around a table, there are numerous incredible shots where they show one character's reaction to something someone else is saying or they show two characters reacting to a comment in completely different ways. This is a marvelous movie about forgiveness and acceptance that is, in my opinion, essential viewing for anyone.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

MattBrady99

Jan 24, 2022

Mass - it's raw pain like this that I've seen/felt before. It's an "actors movie" and I honestly forgot they were acting. Every tear, outburst, and voice crack felt and sounded real. And yes, I cried, a lot.

Ann Dowd, Jason Isaacs, Martha Plimpton, and Reed Birney were all out of thisMass - it's raw pain like this that I've seen/felt before. It's an "actors movie" and I honestly forgot they were acting. Every tear, outburst, and voice crack felt and sounded real. And yes, I cried, a lot.

Ann Dowd, Jason Isaacs, Martha Plimpton, and Reed Birney were all out of this world.

It's cold and haunting in its approach of filling in the gaps of events not shown on film for us the viewers. In a strange way, I found an element of the movie to be weirdly peaceful and safe. Four people in a room, sharing honestly about their thoughts and feelings, sharing stories, anger, tears, laughter, and filling in the blanks, but still walk away with closure, with no sense of emotional humiliation.

It's not an easy movie, nor should it be. It's a movie that's painfully tragic on the cover, but beautifully alive in its spirit.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

moviemitch96

Oct 29, 2021

This is one pressure cooker of a film! Two grieving couples agree to meet in a small church meeting room in the hopes of clearing the air and getting answers from each other following a deadly tragedy involving each of their sons. Almost entirely set in the aforementioned church room, theThis is one pressure cooker of a film! Two grieving couples agree to meet in a small church meeting room in the hopes of clearing the air and getting answers from each other following a deadly tragedy involving each of their sons. Almost entirely set in the aforementioned church room, the film is rather minimalist, but make no mistake, the performances are what truly get this film simmering until the emotions and tensions reach a boiling point. All four of the lead actors (Reed Birney, Ann Dowd, Jason Isaacs, and Martha Plimpton) are all an absolute tour de force! They undoubtedly offer up some of the finest acting you're likely to see all year! And while the one-location approach has been used many times before in other similar films such as the classic '12 Angry Men' and the Roman Polanski film 'Carnage' to name a couple of examples, this is still a highly poignant and emotionally effective and driven film. Overall, it's a must-see for the performances alone, and more than makes up for its tried yet true minimalist setting and premise.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

charlot1085800

Jan 8, 2022

Pretty entertaining movie for one that cost a tissue box, a flower pot and a water bottle. Really enjoyed that there was no music trying to make you feel how you should feel. Felt like what happened to the characters actually happened to the cast and that there was no script. The storyPretty entertaining movie for one that cost a tissue box, a flower pot and a water bottle. Really enjoyed that there was no music trying to make you feel how you should feel. Felt like what happened to the characters actually happened to the cast and that there was no script. The story details very real and tragic events that unfortunately happen too often.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

JLuis_001

Dec 31, 2021

An intimate and painful drama in which its four main characters deliver utterly convincing performances, bringing to life a script constructed to drive its message and meaning about grief and tragedy.

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

everett

Mar 2, 2022

While I admire this attempt to portray the damage done by mass gun violence, particularly in schools, I don't see how this adds to the conversation. The parents' grief is of course heartbreaking, and the actors deliver. But there's nothing unexpected in the writing, no real insight regardingWhile I admire this attempt to portray the damage done by mass gun violence, particularly in schools, I don't see how this adds to the conversation. The parents' grief is of course heartbreaking, and the actors deliver. But there's nothing unexpected in the writing, no real insight regarding accountability for parenting gone horribly wrong OR the proliferation of guns. We don't need to "move on" from what's wrong with a culture where this happens, or even from the way it wrecks people's lives; we need to ask deeper questions than this writing asks, and figure out WHY it keeps happening. In that sense, words like "forgiveness" lose their meaning. I came away wondering what the word means here, beyond the usual religious usage, and it troubled me. It came off like a glossing over, far too neat, far too discouraging of a much-needed, insightful and deeper probe.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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