Back in 2018,Kelly Clarkson took the stageas host of the Billboard Music Awards and urged action amid the recent school shootings. These tragedies sadly persist, perhaps to a greater extent, more than four years later. It’s such a threat in today’s society that “warning” title cards were edited into recent shows that depict similar tragedies,such asStranger ThingsandQueer as Folk.
Other movies and TV shows released this century have created stories explicitly based on school shootings.Gus Van Sant’s stunnerElephantwon the Palme d’Or back in 2003, and more recently, there wasMass, an awards-caliber film focusing on the parents of kids involved in a specific attack. Fran Kranz, recognizable fromThe Cabin in the WoodsandHomecoming, makes his writing and directorial debut — and it’s a triumph.
Still holding an impressive 95% critics' rating on Rotten Tomatoes,Masshas made top 10 lists across the board for “best films of 2021.“The Guardiandecribes it as “a wonderfully acted, if claustrophobic, ordeal of emotional pain.” Indeed, it’s the claustrophobic feel that really heightens this movie as an unforgettable experience. There’s that Hollywood cliché that the bigger, more epic films are the ones remembered for generations. ButMassproves that the opposite — a smaller, more intimate production — can have a more profound effect in the long run, especially when based on such a pertinent issue in modern American society. Here’s a closer look at whyMassis one of the most important films of the 21st Century.
Realistic Depiction of Delicate Subject Matter
InMass, tragedy befalls Jay and Gail Perry (Jason Isaacs and Martha Plimpton) when their son falls victim to a mass shooting at his school. Hoping to achieve some sort of catharsis, the couple meets face-to-face with the parents of the shooter, Richard and Linda (Reed Birney and Ann Dowd). What follows is a movie set mostly in a single room, telling a story from two different perspectives. After talking about their sons when they were innocent children, the two couples partake in various lengthy discussions over how the tragedy had come to be and how the tragedy impacted their lives. We don’t see the tragedy itself — as most of the world usually doesn’t in real-life scenarios — but rather a conversation that happens six years following.
Just as Al Gore never gets political in hisAn Inconvenient Truthdocumentary,Massdoesn’t try to take any broad strokes to try and declare how certain parties involved should act in the aftermath of a school shooting. Instead, we get raw emotion and a conversation that also keeps us guessing, with gripping “twists and turns” woven into the dialogue. For instance, in the first act, we think Isaac’s character will be tame — especially in comparison to Plimpton playing his seemingly more outspoken wife. However, as the discussion unfolds, we see Isaacs turn intense and commanding in expressing how he feels — an excellent storytelling technique that proves we can’t quite know and anticipate the human response.
The end result —Massas a whole — has a theatrical feel to it, given that the story unfolds in asingle setting in real-time. It’s no surprise, then, that Kranz seems to have drawn inspiration from Roman Polanski’sCarnage, based on the acclaimed playGod of Carnage. What makesMassso unforgettable is that it also achieves a documentary-type feel to it, due to the raw emotion and sometimes awkward pacing of the story unfolding. These aspects collectively make the film feel all too real.
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Awards-Caliber Performances by All Four Leads
All four of the lead actors here — Isaacs, Plimpton, Dowd, and Birney — could have been Oscar-nominated for their on-screen efforts. In the past, we’ve seen Birmey in sometimes comedic turns, such as his scene-stealing supporting role inThe Forty-Year-Old Version. But here, we see him take center stage in a moving, confident turn as a father in distress.
And then there’s Dowd, who made her mark as a wise-cracking cult leader inThe Leftovers. And don’t forget her terrifying, Emmy-winning turn inThe Handmaid’s Tale. InMass, however, her mother-in-distress turn is more delicate. “Dowd’s performance…is so richly empathetic,” writesThe Associated Press. “Linda’s melancholy is bottomless but there’s something spiritual in how eager she is to ease Jay and Gail’s suffering, if she can. The performances are too internalized to seem theatrical. Often, “Mass” is most moving when they’re simply listening.”
Fans ofThe Goonieswill recognize Plimpton, who has also provided comic relief in other productions, such asParenthood(1989). But here, she shows A-lister “leading lady” potential, especially in her “forgiving” scene in the third act ofMass. We can’t help but cry with her.
And lastly, Isaacs comes as the least surprising in a reliably superb turn as the father of a deceased boy. We’ve seen him play the villain all too often (Harry Potter, The OA), so it’s always refreshing to see him in a leading “good guy” role. Pulling off a flawless American accent, Isaacs purposefully looks withered and exhausted throughout. Much of his acting here also comes through with his firm, piercing eyes. Collectively, the four leads ofMasswill surely go on to hold the screen in future acclaimed films.
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Thought-Provoking and Unforgettable End Result
At the end ofMass, the couples hold hands in silence to end their meeting, all having reached a state of empathy for each other. Richard leaves first due to a business meeting. Linda follows, only to come back to speak to Gail and Jay once more. After a final, more revealing exchange here, Jay becomes emotional when he overhears a choir practice in another room of the church. Gail comforts him before they finally leave. These final moments between the grieving couple were the icing on the cake in securingMassas a top-tier film: After a couple of hours of verbal communication,Massgracefully ends without really any words at all. “Show, don’t tell,” they say — andMassutilizes this tool with utter success. Especially given the school tragedies we continue to see in the news today, it will come as no surprise whenMassis still discussed in cinema years down the road.
