Brie Larson is kind of big deal now that she is slated to appear as Captain Marvel and of course we loved her performance in Room. Short Term 12 however is considered her breakout role and it also made the name for its writer and director Destin Daniel Cretton. Cretton apparently made based on his own experiences working at a facility similar to the one shown in the film.

Grace leads the day shift workers at a shelter for troubled teenagers. Though their stays are supposed to be temporary, some end up staying for years while the state decides what to do about them. While Mason, another worker who is also Grace’s boyfriend, recounts a funny story to a new staff member, a boy runs out of the building screaming and has to be gently caught and calmed down. Another boy Marcus is due to leave as he is turning 18 but is fearful of it. Grace grows close to a new girl Jayden who has a habit of cutting herself and comes to suspect that she is being abused by her father. Meanwhile Grace’s considerable stress at work is compounded when she learns that she is pregnant. It is revealed that Grace’s situation was much like that of these kids when she was young and she is still traumatized by her experiences. This causes problems in her relationship with Mason as she finds it impossible to fully open up to him.

Two films aren’t quite enough to establish a pattern but it’s impossible to ignore that this shares some similar themes with Room and is every bit as good. Brie’s performance here is excellent and the complex issues of each of the kids are handled with laudable deftness and authenticity. Her dialogue with Jayden is wonderfully written and Jayden’s chilling children’s story is so strong that it will stick in your mind for a long while. Her interactions with Mason are great as well. The best part of it for me is how it captures the sheer impossibility for the victims to speak out about what they have gone through. Mason has been endlessly patient and Grace herself knows what she has to do as she gives the same advice everyday to the kids under her care. But knowing what to do isn’t the same as being able to do it which is why they need their coping mechanisms and oblique ways of talking. This reminds me of Zoe Quinn’s Depression Quest game which shows the proper, correct action as an option but has it always grayed out so that you can’t actually pick it and are instead forced to choose wallowing by yourself in pain and misery.

One thing I do want to highlight is that as depressing as this film can get at times, it is probably still a far too optimistic view of what it’s like to work in such shelters and not only because it has a generally happy ending. For example while the decor of both the shelter itself and Grace’s home look authentic, all of the kids here are better looking than would be plausible for real life which makes it easier to sympathize with them. That is their ugliness is shown in their mental states but never their physical bodies. The degree of dedication and effort the line workers put into their jobs also beggars belief as even the most idealistic heroes will be worn down over time. I suppose the film tries to justify that a bit by showing that both Grace and Mason came from similar circumstances but that feels a little too on the nose for me.

Overall this is still a worthy effort and an excellent film. The fact that it was made with so little money and earned plenty of profit is great too as it means that the free market can support such creations.