As is sadly the way with small independent films, Short Term 12 has had little marketing, which could lead it to being the most overlooked indie gem of the year. Brie Larson (United States Of Tara, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World) gives an indelible and nuanced performance as Grace, a staffer at a group home for troubled teens. Patient and funny but firm, Grace’s own troubled past makes her deeply empathetic. However, the experiences of her charges open floodgates of rage and anguish. As with many of the kids, she internalises her pain, causing a chasm of silence between her and her devoted fiancé (The Newsroom’s John Gallagher Jr).
The challenge to express pain becomes a huge theme in the film, and is handled with great compassion, thanks to writer/director Destin Cretton’s own work experiences, and his innate understanding of how pain can be communicated. Keith Stanfield puts in an achingly beautiful performance as an 18-year-old terrified of leaving the home, who raps what he cannot say, and worries about physical scars betraying the psychic wounds that lie within. Grace’s relationship with troubled Jayden (Kaitlyn Dever) is an obstacle course of tantrums, silences and eventually the slow sharing of secrets through the most devastating, chest-tightening children’s story you’ll ever hear.
It’s not all darkness, as the cast bring natural warmth and humour to the screen, repairing your heart as easily as they break it. The subject matter, like the characters, is messy, complicated, sad and abrasive; but amazing performances, deep emotional intelligence and light-handed elegance combine to create a film that’s free from sentiment, but loaded with heart.