Short Term 12

SHORT TERM 12 is told through the eyes of Grace (Brie Larson), a twenty-something supervisor at a foster care facility for at-risk teenagers. Passionate and tough, Grace is a formidable caretaker of the kids in her charge, and in love with her long-term boyfriend and co-worker, Mason (John Gallagher Jr.) But Grace's own difficult past, and the surprising future that suddenly presents itself, throw her into unforeseen confusion, made all the sharper with the arrival of a new intake at the facility, Jayden (Kaitlyn Dever), a gifted but troubled teenage girl with whom Grace has a charged connection. She and Mason also struggle to help Marcus (Keith Stanfield), an intense, quiet kid who is about to turn 18, manage through the difficulty of having to leave the facility. Grace comes to find—in both her work and the new teenager in her care—surprising sources of redemption. And while the subject matter is complex and often dark, this lovingly realized film finds truth and humor in unexpected places.

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.” (Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times)