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Mass

100 Movies of 2021

Mass

2021

Fran Kranz

Jason Isaacs, Martha Plimpton, Ann Dowd, Reed Birney ...

6.9

3,101

Drama Imagine the most dreaded, tense, and emotionally draining interaction you could find yourself in and multiply it by 10. That is exactly what two sets of parents—Richard (Reed Birney), Linda (Ann Dowd), Jay (Jason Isaacs), and Gail (Martha Plimpton)—are facing. Years after a tragedy caused by Richard and Linda’s son tore all their lives apart, Jay and Gail are finally ready to talk in an attempt to move forward.

	Media	Author	Review
		Fionnuala Halligan Screendaily	"With rigour and clarity of purpose, actor/director Fran Kranz holds the audience in his hands, probing at the unthinkable and daring to keep the faith."
		David Rooney The Hollywood Reporter	"It's a harrowing watch, but a cathartic one, with each of the four superb principal actors delivering scenes of wrenching release."
		Peter Bradshaw The Guardian	"A difficult and impeccably acted film about forgiveness and blame (...) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"
		Teo Bugbee The New York Times	"As cinema, it demonstrates the effectiveness of simplicity. A well-written script and an exemplary cast can still produce a movie worth watching."
		Owen Gleiberman Variety	"[Kranz] has crafted the dialogue so that it builds and flows and surges, revealing and concealing at the same time, drawing us to the center of its rhythms."
		Justin Chang Los Angeles Times	"The balance of clashing perspectives and contradictory emotions is so finely calibrated throughout 'Mass' as to stir your admiration and your suspicion alike"
		Alonso Duralde The Wrap	"The ensemble cast packs a wallop, but first-time writer-director Fran Kranz’s drama becomes overly contrived"
		David Ehrlich IndieWire	"A tiny but absorbingly honest film about the conversations that Americans can't have (...) Franz’s script does a fine and believable job of tip-toeing towards the meat of the issue"
		Richard Whittaker Austin Chronicle	"'Mass' takes the high school shooting drama out of the exploitation rut into which it has fallen, and instead turned it back into a story of people. It's a simple achievement to name, but an extraordinary one in its impact"
		Wes Greene Slant	"In the hands of Isaacs, Plimpton, Birney, and Dowd, 'Mass' gives such precise and profound expression to the totality of grief that it comes to feel downright palpable (…) Rating: ★★½ (out of 4)"
		Pete Hammond Deadline	"A highly impressive and explosive feature screenwriting and directing debut (...) An intense, involving, moving and thought-provoking chamber piece of a film"
		Mel Valentin Screen Anarchy	"Devastating, searing and timely (...) Engrossing, propulsive script, taut, sensitive direction, and career- or near career-best performances by an award-worthy cast"
		Peter Travers ABC News	"'Mass' doesn't make it easy for audiences. Kranz and his superlative cast are going to challenge you every step of the way. Go for it. The result is a movie that will take a piece out of you, a movie that matters"
		Ignatiy Vishnevetsky AV Club	"The cast carries the film. Dowd is especially terrific (...) Unvisual, periodically clumsy direction (...) With every shot looking more or less the same, the result remains stifled and airless"
		Richard Roeper Chicago Sun-Times	"Searing drama (...) All four members of the primary ensemble deliver empathic and powerful performances (…) Rating: ★★★½ (out of 5)"
		Richard Lawson Vanity Fair	"Thoughtful and harrowing, 'Mass' is a difficult wonder (...) Kranz's writing, and the generous performances of his actors, tend toward grace and compassion"
		Matt Zoller Seitz rogerebert.com	"This is a difficult movie to sit through, not just because of the subject matter, but because it's so honest in dramatizing how people process tragedy and carry it through life (…) Rating: ★★★½ (out of 4)"
		Rex Reed The New York Observer	"A film that fills the screen with life (...) 'Mass' tackles thorny issues head on (...) A film of rare ideas and smashing performances (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 4)"
		Leah Greenblatt Entertainment Weekly	"A remarkable cast (...) Powerful, at times maddening film (...) 'Mass' feels like an urgent and necessary movie, if not at all an easy one"
		Jordan King Empire	"Boasting a quartet of excellent performances, Fran Kranz’s directorial debut is a technically adept, emotionally exhausting yet deeply cathartic film that couldn’t be more timely (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"

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