Mass - Movie Review

Critics Score - 9 of 10

General Audience Score - 8 of 10

There’s a city out in Utah that resides exactly seven thousand feet above sea level, it’s called Park City. This town is one you might have heard of if you’re big into skiing or alternatively movies, as it is the home of The Sundance Film Festival. At the end of each January, filmmakers the world over will display hundreds of films to the hungry eyes of cinephiles that stream into the small town. Last January one of the biggest hits to roll into Sundance was actually a little film that only now mainstream audiences are getting to feast their eyes on, Mass. Without getting into too much of this film, I will say it is not just engaging, it’s riveting, it’s enthralling. Once the film kicks into top gear as it moves into the second act, there’s no turning away from the screen. The subject material is dense and heavy, the atmosphere is suffocating, the tone of the film is foreboding. There’s four key players and they act their asses off, pardon my French. The film takes place in a meeting room in the back of a church, so hurry in, sit down and be quiet, Mass is about to start.

SYNOPSIS - This film begins with a woman pulling up to a church and getting out with a couple bags of groceries. After entering the church and saying a quick prayer, she takes the groceries to a downstairs apartment area and then her and a young man go to a back room and set up a table and chairs for a “meeting”. They come out and meet another woman who comes into the church to check things out to make sure the room that’s been set up is adequate for what’s about to go down. The serious demeanor and looks some of these characters give each other are the storm clouds on the horizon of this film that let us know this is no ordinary meeting. We’re then introduced to our first couple, Gail (Martha Plimpton) and Jay (Jason Isaacs) are in their car outside the church but Gail tells Jay she’s hesitant to go in. The ominous dialogue between them continues to build anticipation of the meeting that’s promised to come and they head into the church after building up their courage. Soon after they arrive, they’re joined by Linda (Ann Dowd) and Richard (Reed Birney), who enter the room and the two couples exchange formalities. But they sit down at the table, the air slowly gets sucked out of the room and the firework show begins.

After the firework show has finished lighting up the sky, we’ve gotten to see what’s easily the best acting by a film’s  ensemble cast of the entire 2021 year. The screenplay is a shining star of the film, aside from the fantastic cast, the dialogue is cutting, brutal, fantastic and devastating. Those aren’t typical adjectives you’d use to describe a movie's screenplay but this isn’t any typical story. At just about ten minutes shy of hitting two hours, the clock speeds up as these four individuals interact and the bitter remarks cut through the silence of the room and into our hearts like a hot knife dives into a stick of butter. This film, like The Guilty from a few months ago, is able to keep the film moving with fantastic editing, despite the fact that eighty percent of the movie takes place in one room. But I cannot reiterate enough how superb this ensemble is, they sell this film to absolutely anybody with a heart, *slight spoiler* the only words of caution I’d have would be anyone that’s grieving may want to hold off on Mass awhile.

SUMMARY - This movie is relatively simple in that there are no action set pieces, no A-list actors, no special effects, it’s simple but unbelievably potent. Four people sit around a table and have a discussion. It packs one hell of a punch, it’s absolutely mesmerizing and you’ll be doing your moviegoing a disservice to not watch Mass the next time you want a film that will appeal to the critics and masses.