Mass

It may be a tough watch, but, boasting a quartet of excellent performances, Fran Kranz's directorial debut is a technically adept, emotionally exhausting yet deeply cathartic film that couldn't be more timely.

While stories such as We Need To Talk about Kevin capitalised on the shock value of its horrifying events by playing with a non-linear narrative, Kranz's film doesn't feel the need for any extra artifice.

Movies trade in closure. Mass is honest enough to admit it is not always there to be had.

We see not one glimpse of the calamity that's blighted these lives, but in the eyes and faces of the four actors, we see it all.

Mass is a wonderfully acted, if claustrophobic, ordeal of emotional pain.

The performances are too internalized to seem theatrical. Often, "Mass" is most moving when they're simply listening.

It makes harrowing, provocative viewing.

Mass is an experiment in real-time healing and not a failed one. It asks us, how are we supposed to heal? Is there a right or a wrong way?

Fran Kranz nailed it with his directorial debut by stripping back the filmmaking and focusing solely on the screenplay and the four brilliant actors he had in this single room.

Yes, it is stagey. It is basically in one location. But the screenplay and simple camerawork draw you in and brings you into horrific pain.