Short Term 12
Cinedigm | Release Date: August 23, 2013 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
82
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 36 Critic Reviews
Positive:
33
Mixed:
3
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
EmpireIan FreerOct 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
100
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperSep 12, 2013
It’s one of the best movies of the year and one of the truest portrayals I’ve ever seen about troubled teens and the people who dedicate their lives to trying to help them. Read full review
100
Portland OregonianJamie S. RichSep 5, 2013
A rare movie that serves both the head and the heart. The issues it broaches are achingly real, brought to vivid life by a consistently excellent cast. Read full review
100
Arizona RepublicBarbara VanDenburghAug 29, 2013
The resulting portrait is nothing short of a tiny filmmaking miracle. It’s guaranteed to make you feel something — hopeful, probably, for Grace and her wards. And maybe even for the future of indie filmmaking. Read full review
100
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranAug 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
Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanAug 21, 2013
Brie Larson, as the caring but tormented Grace (who's pregnant and doesn't know if she has the faith to have her baby), and John Gallagher Jr., as her gentle-dweeb fellow worker Mason (who fears his love can't save her), show you what emotionally naked acting is all about. Read full review
100
Village VoiceInkoo KangAug 20, 2013
It's a delicate yet passionate creation, modest in scope but almost overwhelming in its emotional intricacy, ambition, and resonance. Easily one of the best films so far this year, it's a nearly perfect blend of pimple-faced naturalism, righteous moral fury, nuanced social insight, and unsentimental but devastating drama. Read full review
100
IndieWireEric KohnJun 7, 2013
Taking its time to let the world take shape, Short Term 12 builds to an involving series of mini-climaxes without tidying up every loose end. Read full review
100
The PlaylistKatie WalshApr 10, 2013
Short Term 12 is a roller coaster of every emotion, managing to be both heartwarming and heartrending at once. Read full review
90
NPRBob MondelloAug 24, 2013
What might seem on paper a cloyingly sentimental heartwarmer becomes, in Cretton's hands, a briskly believable, often funny, always invigorating and ultimately wrenching story of emotional fortitude. Read full review
90
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternAug 22, 2013
Short Term 12, a low-budget feature only 96 minutes long, is a big deal on a small scale: for what it reveals of Mr. Cretton as a filmmaker — especially as a storyteller, and a director of actors within tautly constructed scenes — and of Ms. Larson's abundant talent. Read full review
90
VarietyPeter DebrugeApr 10, 2013
This compelling human drama finds fresh energy in the inspirational-teacher genre, constantly revealing new layers to its characters. Read full review
90
The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeApr 10, 2013
A genuinely moving look at life in a group foster home that avoids most of the usual routes into viewers' hearts. Read full review
88
USA TodayClaudia PuigSep 12, 2013
Well-written, terrifically acted and compelling. It deftly avoids sentimentality and offers a window into the lives of believable, multilayered characters. Read full review
88
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliAug 29, 2013
The sophomore feature effort from director Destin Cretton (remaking and expanding upon his 2008 short), this movie avoids the numerous landmines awaiting someone venturing into this territory and, as a result, emerges triumphant. Read full review
88
Boston GlobeTy BurrAug 29, 2013
He (Cretton) just loves this place and these people so much, he wanted to give us more of them. For that, we should be grateful. Read full review
88
RogerEbert.comChristy LemireAug 23, 2013
Cretton shows as much care and kindness with the minutiae of the daily routine — as he does with the larger issues that plague these lives in flux. He also infuses his story with unexpected humor as the kids hassle each other — and their supervisors — on the road to healing. Read full review
88
Rolling StonePeter TraversAug 23, 2013
Rehab movies nearly always make me cringe, as if the audience needs to take medicine, as if hope needs to be force fed. Short Term 12, an exceptional film in every way, breaks the mold. Read full review
87
Film.comWilliam GossApr 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
80
Total FilmKevin HarleyNov 3, 2013
The lead character’s called Grace, but don’t be put off: Cretton’s tough-love snapshot of shattered youth is achingly moving rather than manipulative or mawkish. Read full review
80
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierAug 23, 2013
Short Term 12 wraps up with one of the most touchingly memorable last moments of any film this year. Despite a title that’s hard to recall, this brief but resonant movie sticks with you. Read full review
80
SalonAndrew O'HehirAug 22, 2013
It’s both a compelling group melodrama built around an appealing young cast and an immersive introduction into a social reality many of us haven’t thought about. Read full review
80
Time OutDavid FearAug 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
78
Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenSep 18, 2013
Brie Larson is a revelation as the linchpin of Short Term 12. An industrious young actress, her performance here is remarkably natural and understated. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam LaceyNov 14, 2013
Short Term 12 is a triumph of modesty. Read full review
75
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsSep 12, 2013
Because Short Term 12 is a small movie about a challenging subject, you may have to accept my word that actress Brie Larson and director Destin Cretton are bright discoveries, but it shouldn’t be long before the wider world can see these talents with the naked eye. Read full review
75
Washington PostAnn HornadayAug 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
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleAug 29, 2013
Any director who sees Short Term 12 will want to cast Larson in something. This movie puts her on the map. Read full review
75
New York PostLou LumenickAug 22, 2013
Larson shines as an adult staffer assigned to keep these self-destructive kids safe while they work with therapists. Read full review
75
ObserverMatthew KasselAug 20, 2013
It doesn’t happen all at once, nor does the film imply that coming to terms with one’s past is any kind of panacea. Grace’s problems are long term, but, like her adolescent charges, one has the sense she’ll get by. Read full review
70
The New York TimesManohla DargisAug 22, 2013
Even as the gathering melodramatic storms threaten to swamp this pungent slice of life, Mr. Cretton manages to earn your tears honestly. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloAug 21, 2013
At its best, the film conveys a wealth of compelling details that only an insider, or at least someone who’s done extensive and thorough research, would think worthy of singling out. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineR. Kurt OsenlundAug 14, 2013
There's tremendous dramatic value to the aching and sometimes devastating scenes that home in on these kids' private torments. Read full review
60
Time Out LondonTom HuddlestonOct 29, 2013
For all its humanistic warmth and undoubted charm, Short Term 12 just never quite rings true. Read full review
60
The DissolveNoel MurrayAug 22, 2013
This is a small film about a society of castoffs, and while it’s beautifully acted and often moving, it’s also predictable, because it keeps wresting itself into familiar forms. Read full review
40
The GuardianPeter BradshawNov 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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