Short Term 12
SHORT TERM 12 (15)
D: Destin Daniel Cretton
Cinedigm/Demarest/Animal Kingdom (Maren Olson, Asher
Goldstein, Joshua Astrachan & Ron Najor)
US 2013
96 mins
Drama
W: Destin Daniel Cretton [based on his short
film]
DP: Brett Pawlak
Ed: Nat Sanders
Mus: Joel P. West
Brie Larson (Grace Howard), John Gallagher
(Mason), Kaitlyn Dever (Jayden Cole), Rami Malek (Nate), Lakeith Stansfield (Marcus), Kevin Hernandez (Luis), Melora Walters (Dr. Hendler)
Brie Larson may have won an Oscar for her performance in
2015's Room, but she really should have been nominated for her work in this small independent film.
She plays Grace, a supervisory mentor in a care home which
deals with emotionally traumatised and troubled teenagers. Haunted by her own past and met with news that she herself is pregnant, she feels compelled to help a new resident to the facility, a
young girl named Jayden with a history of self harm and domestic abuse from the hand of her father.
The final act does descend into melodramatic territory, but
considering this feature was produced with a budget less than $1 million, it's a fantastic piece of work.
7/10
