BREEDA WOOL ‘MASS,’ CHURCH WORKER JUDY

Writer-director Fran Kranz’s debut feature “Mass” is mainly a four-hander among two sets of parents who have been horribly affected by a school shooting. But before and after they settle into a room at a church to talk things out, a few more hands populate the periphery. As the film opens, Judy (Breeda Wool), a church worker, is setting up the room just so. We don’t know her purpose at this point, but we can feel the nervousness wafting off her.

“When I read the script, it was a little unclear as to whether my role in the movie would even survive the cut,” Wool says, speaking by phone from her home in Los Angeles. But Kranz kept the script’s bookends, which set off the powerful story. “Fran has made something original and beautiful and unique, a peek inside the possibilities of restorative justice around this American topic that we have to address as a society.” Aware of the enormity of the meeting, Judy makes clumsy, earnest efforts to help the participants feel as comfortable as possible.

“When people find out that you’re this person enduring tragedy, it’s awkward,” Wool notes. “I felt like that was an important place for me to explore. And a huge part for me was to show that even if you don’t know how to approach it, you still do it anyway. You go forward in trying to make space for people to repair and restore, even if you’re not necessarily the right person for it.”

Kranz has previously established himself as an actor, which Wool believes made him a particularly effective director.

“He created a space for actors to feel like they were important, and our creative process was paramount,” she says.