#destincretton

1 hour 36 minutes

Rated R (Language and Brief Sexuality)

Directed by Destin Cretton

Starring Brie Larson, John Gallagher Jr., Kaitlyn Dever, Rami Malek, Keith Stanfield, Kevin Hernandez, Melora Walters, Stephanie Beatriz, Lydia Du Veaux, Alex Calloway, Frantz Turner, and Diana Maria Riva

4 out of 4 stars

IN THEATERS NOW.

"Nobody's perfect" is the most widely overused saying in the world (and no, I don't believe Some Like It Hot started this). It's overused, but important. In our lives we come across people who look like the happiest folk in the world. They might be happy, but they're not perfect. There's always something, miniscule or large, that affects their day to day lives; a traumatic past event, an anxiety, an insecurity, etc. Short Term 12, a powerful little indie that unfortunately many people won't see because they haven't heard of it, exemplifies the "nobody's perfect" philosophy. An honest exploration of adolescent pain, the movie also explores adult agony and shows that we all have issues. It's not a problem because it's just life. We're only human. Writer/director Destin Cretton's drama, which was originally a short movie, is oftentimes difficult to watch. The acting is so raw I felt like I was actually looking at really upset people crying out their pain. Not many movies can achieve at recreating human pain without making it look a little too fabricated.

Short Term 12 is difficult viewing mainly because it takes place at a foster-care facility for at-risk teens called, well, Short Term 12. Some of the teens are cutters. Some of them suffer from sporadic bursts of anger and hatred. Grace (Brie Larson) is a twenty-something supervisor of the place who works alongside her long-time boyfriend, Mason (John Gallagher Jr.). Larson has always been given small roles in films like The Spectacular Now and 21 Jump Street. When big Hollywood producers watch this movie they'll certainly be calling her up for more parts. She's an absolute revelation, an everyday-looking person who can pull off comedy and drama. In the movie Grace is like that type of person you want to be friends with. She's cool and in control of the teens. In the beginning a disgruntled patient tries to exit the facility as Grace and Mason explain the job to a new employee (Rami Malek). They chase him and push him to the ground. Instead of yelling, Grace simply pats him down and tells him to scream out his frustration. Not a hint of worry comes across her face. She's a woman who knows how to handle situations like these.

However, deep down Grace isn't the perfect human she appears to be. She doesn't even smile when she goes to the doctor and finds out she's pregnant. Mason, a cheerfully scruffy guy, is like the nicest, sweetest boyfriend in the world. He's joyful about becoming a father. Grace is hesitant, and it's soon revealed that her past life is as troubling as any of the teens she takes care of. The distinction between her personal and working life become blurred when a new patient arrives, a troublesome, miserable-looking 17 year old girl named Jayden (Kaitlyn Dever). The more Grace talks with her the more she begins to see her own reflection in her. To survive her future as a mother she needs to face the truth and talk about it like she's one of her own at-risk teenagers.

A perceptive character study with bits of humor every now and then, Short Term 12 is a powerhouse experience with extraordinary performances. I loved every minutes of it. Cretton creates real comic relief moments while the drama occurs. In one moment an angry Jayden shoves a cupcake into Grace's face and tries to escape before being held down by Mason. It's a heartbreaking moment, thanks to Dever's incredible acting ability as she screams and curses at the top of her lungs to leave the building. The perfectly cast Gallagher Jr., who's so good at portraying nice guys like he does so on The Newsroom, simply looks at Grace's icing-filled face and says "Grace, that was my cupcake..."  This is a movie that almost put me to tears because of how truthfully it shows human agony. Another noteworthy performance is by Keith Stanfield who plays Marcus, an animalistic teen who's upset because he's about to turn 18 which means he'll have to leave Short Term 12. He doesn't want to, so instead of facing his future he lets out his anger. In another gut-wrenching moment he raps his history of parental abuse to Mason. It's a moment so chilling because Cretton films it in one take and subtly gets closer to Marcus's face. The closer we get the more his pain comes across.

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