ReelBob: ‘Mass’ ★★★★

By Bob Bloom

“Mass” is one of the most emotionally painful movies you will ever experience.

The raw grief, anger and regret expressed in this mostly four-character drama assails you with its blunt honesty and poignancy.

The movie is so intimate that you feel uncomfortable, as if you were eavesdropping in a confessional.

The bulk of “Mass” takes place in a back room of a church where, years after a horrific tragedy, two sets of parents — Richard (Reed Birney) and Linda (Ann Dowd) and Jay (Jason Isaacs) and Gail (Martha Plimpton) — agree to talk privately in an attempt to move forward with their lives.

Writer-director Fran Kranz has created a very powerful and overwhelming experience that, especially if you are a parent, will drill directly into your soul.

Watching the baby steps the couples take, as they slowly try to connect, is excruciating as they try to choose their words carefully so as not to create an antagonistic atmosphere. It is as if they are carefully maneuvering a verbal minefield, knowing that the slightest wrong word could detonate an explosion of condemnation and reproach.

Richard and Linda’s son, Hayden, killed several people, including Jay and Gail’s son, Evan, years before.

Jay and Gail seek answers, but Richard and Linda have none. They are victims and traumatized parents as much as Jay and Gail.

Evan’s parents stammer and stutter trying to find the exact wording to probe Richard and Linda about Hayden, and why they did not — or could not — see the warning signs that led up to the horrific event.

The silences and nonverbal, furtive glances exchanged by the married couples speak volumes about their vulnerabilities. Long-married couples will definitely recognize these signals, as if one partner is asking the other for permission to go down a road that may spark recriminations or anguish.

The performances by the quartet of actors are superb. To label what they do as acting is a disservice. Their emotions are so heartbreakingly real and intense that you can’t help but shed tears.

Dowd and Plimpton are exceptional. Dowd’s Linda is overly conciliatory and wracked with guilt over her son’s deeds, while Plimpton battles to keep from lashing out and retain a semblance of civility toward the people whose offspring shattered her and her husband’s lives.

Birney’s Richard has developed a defensive armor, relying on public transcripts and lawsuit depositions to try explaining his son’s actions. He actively denies recognizing any signs of Hayden’s potential for mass murder.

Jay keeps his anger in check while pushing for satisfactory explanations, realizing that no easy answers can define such a horrific experience.

“Mass” is a tough movie to observe. Its strength is that it does not try to offer simple or pat solutions to such complex issues. It superbly achieves illustrating the long-lasting emotional damage and shattering of loved ones’ lives — whether perpetrators or victims — in the dreadful aftermath that is becoming an all-too familiar occurrence to all of us.

When Academy Award time rolls around, “Mass” should definitely be in the conversation in several categories.

I am a founding member of the Indiana Film Journalists Association. I review movies, 4K UHD, Blu-rays and DVDs for ReelBob (ReelBob.com), The Film Yap substack and other print and online publications. I can be reached by email at bobbloomjc@gmail.com. You also can follow me on Twitter @ReelBobBloom and on Facebook at ReelBob.com or the Indiana Film Journalists Association. My movie reviews also can be found at Rotten Tomatoes: www.rottentomatoes.com.

MASS
4 stars out of 4
(PG-13), thematic content, language