Short Term 12

Name: Short Term 12
Genre: Drama
Released: August 23, 2013
Duration: 96 min
Rating: 82
Cast: Alex Calloway, Brie Larson, Frantz Turner, John Gallagher Jr., Kaitlyn Dever

2013

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Universal acclaim based on 36 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Universal acclaim based on 225 Ratings

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8.4

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8.4	User Score Universal acclaim based on 225 Ratings

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Short Term 12

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Movie Details & Credits

Cinedigm | Release Date: August 23, 2013 | R

Starring: Alex Calloway, Brie Larson, Frantz Turner, John Gallagher Jr., Kaitlyn Dever, Kevin Hernandez, Lakeith Stanfield, Lydia Du Veaux, Rami Malek, Stephanie Beatriz

Summary: Grace (Brie Larson), a young supervising staff member of a foster care facility, looks after troubled teens and reckons with her own past alongside her co-worker and longtime boyfriend, Mason (John Gallagher Jr.).

Director: Destin Cretton

Genre(s): Drama

Rating: R

Runtime: 96 min

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Critic Reviews

100

The Playlist Katie Walsh

Apr 10, 2013

Short Term 12 is a roller coaster of every emotion, managing to be both heartwarming and heartrending at once. Read full review

100

Kenneth Turan

Aug 22, 2013

Short Term 12 is a small wonder, a film of exceptional naturalness and empathy that takes material about troubled teenagers and young adults that could have been generic and turns it into something moving and intimate. Read full review

100

Empire Ian Freer

Oct 28, 2013

Short Term 12 is a miracle of a movie. Beautifully written and perfectly played, all of human life is here: the good, the bad, the messy and the uplifting. Read full review

Film.com William Goss

Apr 10, 2013

[Brie Larson's] performance is something of a quiet revelation, and in turn, the same could be said of the film itself. Read full review

David Fear

Aug 20, 2013

Short Term 12 isn’t without drawbacks, occasionally dipping into a too-neat narrative tidiness and a self-conscious sloppiness. Yet the film’s charms and ability to cut through jadedness despite the subject matter makes it a rarity — a modest indie that’s feels like it’s in it for the long haul. Read full review

Ann Hornaday

Aug 31, 2013

Short Term 12 is that rare movie gutsy enough to tell the truth about love: that it’s not a poetic longing or a magical-thinking happy ending, but a skill. And, the film suggests, we all have the capacity to learn it. Read full review

The Guardian Peter Bradshaw

Nov 3, 2013

There's a too-cute-to-be-true ending to this US indie movie by the much-acclaimed young director Destin Cretton; I couldn't buy it, and found myself wondering if I had kept the receipt for the rest of the film too. Read full review

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User Reviews

ashseeh

Apr 23, 2014

this is clearly one of the best films of the year. the screenplay, the direction, the acting, the casting, everything is incredible. most importantly, it has addressed an important issue very skillfully and flawlessly. 10/10

4 of 4 users found this helpful40

dante_botherme

Apr 9, 2016

A beautiful, fun and moving film. The ensemble acting is realistic and heartfelt. The writing and dialogue are crisp. It brought me into a part of the world around me that I had been oblivious to. NOT TO BE MISSED!

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

Aidon_m

May 24, 2014

Short Term 12 represents all that is good in human beings. Everything feels so real. The direction. The dialogue and in particular the emotions. Not a weak performance and the result is an uplifting, thought provoking film. Possibly the most human film in years.
Thank Jebus for Brie Larson

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

rebelmswar

Jul 8, 2015

Even though the movie deals with a sore subject, one is left with a feeling of hope. A movie of feeling that will at times make you laugh and then bring you down to the basement with the characters. Certainly fantastic performances all around (seriously) and especially from the leading ladyEven though the movie deals with a sore subject, one is left with a feeling of hope. A movie of feeling that will at times make you laugh and then bring you down to the basement with the characters. Certainly fantastic performances all around (seriously) and especially from the leading lady (fantastic.) I so want to know those characters; when a movie leaves you like that - it's good. A stellar effort.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

PieceofMine

Sep 4, 2013

Writer-director Destin Cretton's Short Term 12 is a marvel, an intimate look into the life of a young woman named Grace, a mature, resourceful, and damaged caretaker at a juvenile housing facility. From first shot to last, the film is stunning; it is emotionally vast, beautifully andWriter-director Destin Cretton's Short Term 12 is a marvel, an intimate look into the life of a young woman named Grace, a mature, resourceful, and damaged caretaker at a juvenile housing facility. From first shot to last, the film is stunning; it is emotionally vast, beautifully and intimately shot, and an incredibly acted success.

Short Term 12's subject matter lends itself to immediacy, and so the film presents its characters in stride, building up Grace, her paramour co-worker, ally, and confidant Mason, and the teenagers in their care with small, detailed brushstrokes for example, we learn who Mason is primarily through his natural storytelling ability as he introduces the facility to a new staff member; with anger-brimming older boy Marcus, it's a profound but not unbelievably polished rap session. These moments are expository without ever feeling forced or out of place; Cretton's mantra seems to favor an almost voyeuristic naturalism above all else. There are a few scant moments where the writing takes a turn for the more forced, especially when the script plays for laughs and the jokes stand out from the rest of the dialogue because they are so obviously structured for punchlines. These are easily forgiven, however, as the film quickly slips into its deeply sympathetic stages, teasing out the wracking pain and broken pasts buried within these kids, who quickly demonstrate that they're far more than the band of colorful misfits they initially present as. The aforementioned Marcus as the facility's veteran resident and a newcomer, Jayden, whose attitude and scarred over past most closely resemble Grace, play the primary fulcrums for Mason and Grace to pivot around. Instead of one great urgency that drives the narrative forward, there is a looser, short-story style that weaves its way through the film, thus adhering to its dropped-in, naturalistic feel. The conflicts these kids (and other adults!) introduce and the sympathies they engender are utilized as ways to explore, primarily, Grace's own frustrations, weaknesses, aspirations, and pain. Grace is the all-encompassing center stage here, and at its core, the film is very introspective, an elegant psychological portrait that strikes a near-perfect balance between what it shows and what it leaves for the viewer to surmise.

So, of course, we must talk about Brie Larson's superlative, sumptuous performance as Grace. This is as close of an embodiment of the now mythical strong female character as you're likely to see all year. She's immediately admirable and likable it's clear that she cares for these children and operates with a generous compassion and patience, but her balancing flaws are what make her truly stand out. Instead of a few individual negative traits (like the general impishness that infects every manic pixie dream girl derivative, or, say, emotional volatility because, you know, women are crazy), her demons form an almost terrifying certainly tragically cohesive whole. She's constantly receding from some past open wound, and it makes her at times prideful, stubborn, defiant, pitiful, and difficult. Her past and her person come together to form a character that understands how to fight through pain, and demonstrates courage through her resilience and fire, but is never quite sanctified and all the more laudably grounded for it. Though in broad strokes it is a rich and comprehensive and powerful portrayal, there are a few pinprick moments where the direction does seem to recede into comfortable cliche do we ever need another shot of a character looking vacant and troubled in the shower? Still, a few of these are easily forgiven, and the larger picture painted is still breathtaking. This centerpiece that is Grace owes equal dues to Cretton's heartfelt script and Larson's performance, the latter of which runs the gamut between optimistically aloof, passionate, distant, angry, and, when earned, triumphant, and she leaves nothing on the table.

Larson would stick out like a sore thumb, however, if her supporting cast didn't all rise to the challenge to extend the tapestry of her character into a fully realized world populated with all sorts of interesting. As Mason, John Gallager Jr. gives a far less showy but quietly stellar performance as Grace's partner in all things; if I had to nitpick, there are moments where he suffers from Gary Stu syndrome, but he has enough to do to quickly rise up as a formidably substantial character on his own. When Grace runs into adversaries, instead of being heartless bureaucratic hardasses like the DMV caricatures administrative types are usually presented as, they offer counter-arguments that are both logical and passionate, and Grace is far from always right. But we continue to root for her in tremendous ways, because she seems so knowable, because she's heartwrenchingly thorough, because this story, in spite of its sometimes angsty trappings, comes across as so personal and real.… Expand

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

NRNSW

Jul 19, 2015

This movie is fantastic - full of wonderful performances, especially by the lead roles. There is a real heart and soul in this movie, and it leaves you feeling like you have spent the time well.

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

leighfwarren

Mar 16, 2014

Not believable. The history of the lead was improbable. More like a documentary but was too neatly linked up to a matching unbelievable conclusion. Tried to pull all the emotional strings, if you don't fall for it then waiting for the ending was all that was worth waiting for.

2 of 9 users found this helpful27

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