A brilliant, claustrophobic drama from writer/director Fran Kranz, Mass is a film that grips and moves thanks to the strength of its writing and the brilliance of a quartet of performances. It’s mostly set in a small room in a church, one where people worry about the placement of chairs and whether there are too many nibbles for an important, tension heavy meeting between two couples. Gradually, the film reveals that these couples – Linda and Richard (Ann Dowd and Reed Birney) and Gail and Jay (Martha Plimpton and Jason Isaacs) – are parents to children involved in a mass school shooting. Dowd and Birney’s son Hayden was the killer; Isaacs and Plimpton’s son, the victims.

The conversation turns on how this all happened. Blame is assigned, the parents struggling to come to terms with their responsibilities in an astute, believable conversation that rises and falls realistically, each character getting their gutwrenching moment. Superbly observed and wonderfully empathetic, Mass is searing – and far from stagey, despite its mostly single location. There are wry moments of humour amidst the tragedy, but it is an acting showcase foremost. Isaacs has never been better and both Dowd and Plimpton are heartbreaking as shattered mothers mourning their sons, finding a common ground in grief.

This should pick up all the acting accolades for its cast, with Fran Kranz (previously known for his work on the likes of The Cabin In The Woods, Much Ado About Nothing and Dollhouse, all Joss Whedon projects), especially, marking himself out as a real standalone talent. Tear-stained, visceral and exhausting, Mass is a necessary if often gruelling watch that, despite its subject matter, is richly humane, identifying what binds us together as people and has a hard-earned hope.

Dir: Fran Kranz (12, 111 mins)

Released in cinemas and on Sky Cinema on Thurs 20 Jan

words KEIRON SELF