Short Term 12 is a drama film directed by Destin Daniel Cretton. The film follows the life of Grace Howard (Brie Larson), a troubled adult who supervises at a home for troubled teens.
I have to say before I watched this film I was not on the Brie Larson bandwagon; I had yet to see that one performance by her that was going to convert me, I had seen her disastrous pr efforts and her meh turn as Captain Marvel in the MCU neither of which impressed me. I liked her in Free Fire, Scott Pilgrim and Kong Skull Island but I was still unconvinced. However, all that changed when I saw this film and now I am 100% on board the bandwagon.
There are a lot of great performances in this film, we get to see hints at future potential from Lakeith Stanfield and Kaitlyn Dever, as well as a great turn from John Gallagher Jr. in the male lead, but this is Larson’s film through and through. Larson sells every minute she is on screen with such an emotional intensity that you can’t help but be drawn in. I thought the struggle her character goes through, and the later reveals as to the motivation behind that, is incredibly moving and manically depressing. I think the conversation this character arc raises however is ultimately uplifting, positive and needed as it shows there is hope.
Overall, this is an incredibly emotionally impactful film and it is a model for how scripts should be written, close to perfect.
Pros.
Brie Larson
It has both humour and heart
The journey
The conversation around surviving abuse
The ending and the hope it brings
Cons.
It can be upsetting and deeply depressing at times
4.5/5
Reviewed by Luke
Another Millennial Reviewer 