THE MASON RING
by Karen Pecota

Terry Dawson, USA, 2021, Film Independent

Filmmaker Terry Dawson directs a very unique tale in THE MASON RING. Dawson has his audience guessing the outcome of this film every minute in this delightfully comical narrative with many twists and turns. Dawson, a clever director, uses wonderful actors, cinematography and mood music to share a relatable encounter at the mortuary viewing session of a grandfather (Frankllin English). The assignment of the grandmother (Celestial) to her grandchildren, Earl (Tracle Hill) and Antoine (Xavier Harrell), is to carry out one last wish of their deceased grandparent: to make sure grandpa's ring, as a free Mason was placed on the correct finger.

In conversation with the funeral home director Mr. Bricker (Myles Cranford--who acted as a security man) the grandchildren relay that their grandfather wasn't a warm and fuzzy guy to them. Looking on at their deceased grandparent laying in the coffin, dressed to the hilt in the Freemason garb, they say, "Only grandpa would make us do something like this..." The security man reminded them to be respectful because he knew that if the duty was completed correctly, the grandchildren would receive their inheritance. (KP)