Short Term 12 Poster

Short Term 12 (2013)

Drama  
Rayting:   8.0/10 82.4K votes
Country: USA
Language: English
Release date: 17 October 2013

A 20 something supervising staff member of a residential treatment facility navigates the troubled waters of that world alongside her co worker and longtime boyfriend.

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lastliberal-853-253708 26 January 2014

It's not just the residents in this home that are damaged. To some degree, the staff comes here with their own life experiences that are just as damaging as those they care for. Maybe being damaged is what attracts people to the work - I certainly saw it often in psychology and counseling classes.

Grace (Brie Larson), the supervisor, is certainly dealing with a damaged past. It is probably what makes her good at her job, but it does cause her problems. It's balancing the two that makes one successful.

Cutting, anger, withdrawal, are all things you will see in these children/young adults. They are manifestations of their unnatural upbringing. Marcus (Keith Stanfield) is terrified at the prospect of going out on his own. Jayden (Kaitlyn Dever) guards her secret past, while Grace tries to pry it open.

Every day is a challenge, and the worst part is not ever knowing if you were successful.

ferguson-6 8 September 2013

Fmovies: Greetings again from the darkness. "An indie gem" is meant to be a term of respect for a little movie that manages to make an emotional connection, usually while being screened at a film festival or in a very limited and brief theatrical run. The best ones drive us to encourage everyone we know to take the time to see it. Such is writer/director Destin Cretton's latest.

Some movies offer a promising premise and then let us down with faulty execution. Short Term 12 is actually better than its premise would lead you to expect. Credit goes to Mr. Cretton's quasi-documentary directorial style, tremendous acting from support characters played by John Gallagher Jr (Mason), Kaitlyn Dever (Jayden), and Keith Stanfield (Marcus), and a stunning lead performance from rising star Brie Larson (Grace).

Grace and Mason help run a foster care facility. We witness first hand their daily work with the kids, some of it quite mundane ... though other moments incredibly powerful. Grace and Marcus have their own personal connections to this way of life, and also happen to be in a relationship that seems built on avoiding the communication and connection that goes into their daily jobs.

The use of art as a communication device plays a role throughout. Marcus uses his rap lyrics, newcomer Jayden draws and writes children's stories. These two kids are particularly important because they also mirror the inner sanctum of Mason and Grace, and we see these people all battle demons in hope of living a "normal" life. This is not a story of saints and sinners ... these are just people coming to grip with the deck they've been dealt.

You will recognize Gallagher from his work on HBO's "Newsroom", and Dever made quite an impression in her time on "Justified". Larson's star is on the rise thanks to her presence in The Spectacular Now and Don Jon, as well as some upcoming projects. She IS what critics have been trying make Greta Gerwig ... an actress who breathes life into character we feel we know.

estebangonzalez10 11 January 2014

"You need to get ready because it's so unbelievable it's going to seem fake, but I promise you it's not, Grace will vouch for me...It's a storytellers wet dream."

Every once in a while a surprising film like Short Term 12 comes around reminding me why I love cinema so much. This is only my second five star review from 2013 and this small indie absolutely hit all the right notes with me taking me through a wide range of emotions thanks to its perfect balanced mix of comedy and touching drama. I was drawn to these characters from the very opening scene and was completely engaged with the story. Having visited a foster care facility a couple times last year and spent some time with kids going through similar situations, this film really hit home and helped me empathize more with them. In a way I kind of felt like Nate, the new counselor in this film who didn't connect right away with the kids and there was not much he could do to help considering he had no idea where they were coming from. On the other hand, the two other counselors, Grace and Mason, really connected with the children because they came from similar backgrounds and understood how they were feeling. Short Term 12 writer and director, Destin Cretton, uses this film as a vehicle to let the viewer have a better understanding of the social situation these kids go through. I don't know if this would've worked so well if it weren't for the incredibly touching performances from the cast. Brie Larson is so great in this film, she hit all the right notes, and in some way she reminded me of Jennifer Lawrence in Winter's Bone. She has that same potential and her career will definitely take off after this. She deserves an Oscar nomination because she's that good. Her co-lead, John Gallagher Jr. also delivers a terrific performance and if we haven't heard much about him it's because Larson steals most of the thunder here. Even the kids in this film were terrific and that's why I'm giving this film the highest possible grade because it does everything right.

Grace (Brie Larson) is one of the young counselors at Short Term 12, a foster care facility for at risk teenagers. Along with Mason (John Gallagher Jr.), with whom she's in a relationship, they look after these kids who have come from a troubled past. The film opens with Mason welcoming a new counselor named Nate (Rami Malek), and he shares a story with him about his first day which didn't go too great. Then they introduce some of the kids to him: there's Marcus (Keith Stanfield) who's about to turn 18 and therefor will be leaving the facility soon, Sammy (Alex Calloway) who's going through a deep psychological trauma, and Luis (Kevin Hernandez) who's easygoing but enjoys bullying Marcus. A few days later a new teenage girl named Jayden (Kaitlyn Dever) arrives at the foster care center who seems to be deeply scarred. Grace begins to connect with her and realizes they have come from a similar past. Grace and Mason are both excellent counselors, mostly because they have come from a troubled past themselves, and despite helping these kids they also have to deal with their own scars in life if they want their relationship to work.

I loved the way that Cretton decided to open the film with Mason telling Nate a story, and then deciding to end it with another one. The structure of this film was just perfectly executed and I loved the balance it maintained. There were several different plots going on as each kid was going th

jaymcguinness 28 November 2018

Short Term 12 fmovies. Short Term 12 is a powerful and moving drama that leaves you with warm feelings on conclusion. It depicts the personal struggles of a group of teenagers in supported care and their carers.

Dramas of this sort can sometimes leave you feeling gloomy and have a depressing feel. It certainly has dark moments of personal struggle, dealing in mental health, domestic abuse, self harm and suicide but the standard of acting and ending of the movie most definitely leave you feeling positive.

What stands out most about this film however is the cast. There are several strong performances even from the supporting cast with minor screen time. Brie Larson in the lead role excels. A breakout performance in a slow moving drama. One particular scene that comes to mind is the scene with Frantz Turner playing Jack. The outburst is a culmination of her protecting Jayden (played very well by Kaitlyn Dever) who she has begun to understand and create a close bond with, along with her own personal life frustrations. It is Jayden and not her boyfriend, despite his attempts, who allow Grace to open up and deal with her own personal struggles and her past. John Gallagher Jnr, who I had not seen much of prior to this movie also puts in an understated performance as the caring and supporting boyfriend and provides a few moments of comedic relief throughout the drama. I should also mention his scene at his foster family birthday celebration. The scene is only short but the emotion he displays in saying thank you to his foster parents was powerful. This is also one of the early roles for Rami Malek, who has now gone on like Brie to much more significant roles. He doesn't have much screen time in this and no particular scenes of note. Other than Brie however I believe Lakeith Stanfield as Marcus puts in the best performance. His backstory doesn't get as much time as Jayden and it is less central to the plot of the film which is mainly the Grace/Jayden/Mason arc, but all of his scenes are very strong and he is very believable.

mackistner 18 March 2013

I saw this film a couple days ago at SXSW and it is still difficult to put into words how I feel about it. This is a truly special film and was definitely the big WOW moment of the entire festival. The film won the Grand Jury and Audience Award for Narrative feature and it deserves the accolades 100%. The acting in this film is so honest and real that I felt like I was watching a documentary at times. This is easily a star making role for Brie Larson, John Gallager Jr., and Kaitlyn Dever. All are young stars on the rise and I hope this film helps progress their careers in the right direction, because they all deserve it.

The film tells the story of Grace (Larson) and her coworkers as they work at a dysfunctional foster care facility. There are many characters in the film, specifically the kids in the foster care, and each and every character with a speaking role is a completely fleshed out, multi- dimensional character. It was easy to connect with every character since you really felt for their difficult life situation and it was riveting to see these characters interact with each other in a realistic way.

I don't want to say too much about the film, but there are some very moving scenes that definitely made me tear up. This is a very emotional film and you could feel the passion that was put into it by the cast and filmmakers. I believe wholeheartedly that this movie deserves Oscar buzz, specifically in Screenplay and some of the acting categories. The audience reaction as the credits rolled was one of the warmest receptions at SXSW that I experienced this year and multiple people gave it a standing ovation.

I cannot wait to see this film again, definitely the best of the festival and one of the best first features by a director that I've ever seen. This is going to be a very important film in 2013 and I cannot wait to see what is in store for the film, the director, and these talented young rising actors. You will be a better person for seeing this film. Just see it.

CinemaClown 16 January 2014

Incredibly natural in its approach, wonderfully balanced from start to finish & further solidified by a convincing ensemble performances, Short Term 12 tells the story of Grace, a very caring & capable supervisor at a foster-care facility for at-risk teenagers. There are three story lines that emerge from this film; one is about Marcus, a quiet kid who's about to turn eighteen but doesn't want to leave the facility, the second plot line is about Jayden, a troubled teenage girl who's the latest member of the club. And the final & main plot line is about Grace herself, whose past returns to haunt her after meeting Jayden with whom she shares a connection plus the unexpected surprise she discovers that can have a major impact on her future, thus leaving her utterly confused with everything about her life.

The entire cast has given a brilliant performance, but it's Brie Larson who impresses the most as Grace and the film manages to portray her toughness & fragility evocatively. The locations are very lifelike, the entire film has a very calm & relaxed atmosphere for which the shooting location is responsible for, editing is finely done & it is smartly written & directed. On an overall scale, Short Term 12 is one of those dramas that are heartwarming & heartbreaking at the same time that will have you go through every emotion you're capable of and dares to deal with issues most people or families aren't very comfortable viewing or discussing about.

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