mass – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

MASS – Review by Susan Granger

November 23, 2021November 29, 2021 Susan Granger ann dowd, Breeda Wool, fran kranz, Martha Plimpton, mass

Make no mistake. This is a difficult psychological drama to watch, as first-time writer/director Fran Kranz delves into the grief of two sets of parents whose children were involved in a high-school shooting. How do people cope with this kind of tragedy? And how do they ever move on? During the uninterrupted conversation, questions abound as resentment leads to understanding. Eventually, each character experiences a personal epiphany in trying to make sense of a senseless tragedy.

Festivals

AWFJ @ Middleburg Film Festival – Sandie Angulo Chen reports

October 20, 2021October 26, 2021 Sandie Angulo Chen C'mon C'mon, jazz tangcay, lauren bradshaw, leslie combemale, Mae Abdulaki, mass, Middleburg Film Festival, nell minow, sandie angulo chen, sheila johnson, Spencer, susan wloszczyna, The Humans

The ninth year of the Middleburg Film Festival brought back the fest’s in-person programming in Virginia horse country. Founded by Sheila Johnson and run by executive director Susan Koch, the four-day festival continues to feature an impressive slate of diverse and thoughtfully-curated narrative and documentary feature films (34 this year).

Interviews

Ann Dowd on MASS, Forgiveness and Motherhood – Leslie Combemale interviews

October 6, 2021October 10, 2021 Leslie Combemale ann dowd, fran krantz, mass

Ann Dowd is one of four in the ensemble cast of the new film Mass, written and directed by Fran Kranz. In it, two couples, Gail and Jay (played by Martha Plimpton and Jason Isaacs) meet with Linda and Richard (Dowd and renowned stage actor Reed Birney) and talk about their sons, both of whom died as the result a school shooting. Linda and Richard’s son was the shooter. Their meeting, which in Mass unfolds in real time, reveals their shared grief and complicated emotions. As parents, guilt looms large, and forgiveness, of each other and of themselves, may or may not happen as part of the proceedings.

Reviews

MASS – Review by Pam Powell

September 29, 2021October 2, 2021 Pamela Powell ann dowd, fran krantz, Martha Plimpton, mass

If you don’t know the name Fran Kranz, you soon will. While this actor has a healthy resume, it’s his sharp eye for story telling that most assuredly will catapult this first-time writer and director into the stratosphere with his writing and directorial debut of Mass starring Ann Dowd, Jason Isaacs, Martha Plimpton, and Reed Birney. With a keen ear for dialogue, a skilled eye, and deft direction of this passionate ensemble cast, the result is one of the most harrowingly complex and captivating films in recent memory.

Festivals Reviews

MASS (Sundance2021) – Review by Leslie Combemale

January 27, 2021January 31, 2021 Leslie Combemale ann dowd, Breeda Wool, fran kranz, Martha Plimpton, mass, Sundance Film Festival 2021

Somber chamber drama Mass, actor Fran Kranz’s writing and directing debut about two sets of parents dealing and confronting each other after the loss of their sons in a mass shooting is a very tough watch. It teeters at the edge but never crosses the border into grief porn, and that’s to the credit of the ensemble cast and a well-crafted story arc in the screenplay.