A cycle unfurls in Short Term 12, one of horrors perpetrated against the innocent, the help they receive even when they’re oblivious to the need for it, and the way that heartbreak can both form and haunt the foundations – slowly and with uncertainty – for an adult life. This is the world writer/director Destin Cretton (I Am Not a Hipster) asks his audience to inhabit, as he turns his 2008 short film of the same name into his sophomore feature.
Cretton keeps his camera close to his characters as he ventures into a foster care facility for damaged teenagers, their faces constantly filling his roving frames, and his lens bouncing and weaving as they sprint and scramble towards and away from trouble. The unnamed institution is a hive of activity befitting such visual treatment, with never a moment of stillness or silence. Kids argue and act out against their guardians; staff struggle, but attempt to take it all in their stride. There’s always someone who needs some extra attention, or a friend to talk to. Their outside lives and woes and worries cannot be easily shaken.
Grace (Brie Larson, The Spectacular Now) becomes the guide into this melancholy microcosm, the long-reigning, well-liked supervisor of the titular ward, mere years older than her charges. Her warm ways and persistent commitment are evident, her employees cognisant of her prowess as two newcomers – staff member Nate (Rami Malek, Ain’t Them Bodies Saints) and unhappy runaway Jayden (Kaitlyn Dever, TV’s Justified) – enter her protective realm. Of course, despite appearances, Grace’s calm is a mask, her own messy past always threatening her composure. As the problems of those under her watch both mirror and become her own, her fellow caretaker and boyfriend Mason (John Gallagher Jr., The Newsroom) can only bear witness as her façade begins to falter.
An exceptional cast brings Cretton’s intimate, Half Nelson-like tale to life, led by the wise-beyond-her-years Larson. With weariness in her eyes but simmering sparks of optimism still in her tired, tense heart, she embodies the emotional rollercoaster of the character and the script, living and breathing the bittersweet sting of the desperate but determined. Capable supports complement her naturalistic turn, Gallagher Jr. the model of goofy kindness and encouragement, and debutant Keith Stanfield a standout as one of the centre’s youths. But, Cretton returns again and again to his leading lady, as his viewers rightfully implore of him, rawness resonating from the sheer honesty of her efforts.
In the excellent performances as well as the intuitive underlying writing, compassion seethes but sentiment is absent; Short Term 12 may inspire a wide-ranging emotional reaction, but it does so with earnestness, not overt manipulation. Lives change in the days, then weeks, then months that the film charts; however there are no easy answers, magic solutions or happy endings. Instead, on-screen, there’s the chance of catharsis in the cavalcade of hard truths, harsh realities, and futures filled with difficult choices. Off-screen, there’s the knowledge that stars are being made and talents are cementing their trajectory – and of watching a film that’s not only shattering, but special.
Rating: 4.5
Short Term 12
Director: Destin Cretton
USA, 2013, 96 mins
Canberra International Film Festival
October 30 – November 4
http://www.canberrafilmfestival.com.au/
Brisbane International Film Festival
November 13 – 24
In general release: December 26
Distributor: Madman Entertainment
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