Mass (2021)

IMDb plot summary: Aftermath of a violent tragedy that affects the lives of two couples in different ways.

Directed by Fran Kranz. Starring Jason Isaacs, Martha Plimpton, Ann Dowd, and Reed Birney.

Mass is a one-room story about two couples meeting to talk about their children, one of which was the victim of a school shooting six years ago, while the other was the shooter. The film stays on these couples throughout their whole meeting. To pull off this kind of stagey story, all in one room in real time, you have to have a really tight script, incredible actors, and cinematography that keeps the focus on them, and that's all absolutely the case here. We've got Jason Isaacs and Martha Plimpton as the victim's parents and Reed Birney and Ann Dowd as the perpetrator's parents, and each one of them is such an interesting character. It feels like a play in the absolute best way, the kind of play that keeps you riveted to the edge of your seat because the dramatic tension in the story and the characters has hooked you in, and when the time is up you barely even realize you've just spent two hours watching the same scene. The script flows naturally from one moment to the next but still manages to hit all the essential beats and give each character a chance to really shine in the narrative. It's kind of an incredible accomplishment.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Mass > Fahrenheit 451

Mass > The Black Cat

Mass > Castle in the Sky

Mass < Bullets Over Broadway

Mass > Savannah Smiles

Mass > Requiem for a Dream

Mass > Unforgiven

Mass < A Charlie Brown Christmas

Mass < Seven Psychopaths

Mass > Sabrina (1954)

Mass < The Bridge on the River Kwai

Final spot: #247 out of 3580, or 93%.