Grace (Brie Larson) is the caretaker at a group home for at-risk teenagers. As she tries to provide a safe space for the children at the home and integrate a new member of staff into the team she also has to face into her own psychological traumas that are reignited by a new resident arriving.

Short Term 12 was released in 2013 to much fanfare as an indie gem but for one reason or another I had never found the time for it. Something that I am very pleased to have done now. It is a fascinating film that takes a really dark subject matter and manages to make it feel completely authentic and also a little uplifting. One thing for certain is that it is emotionally a big film. The casting team who worked on the film should also be given all the plaudits possible for bringing together an amazing cast, the majority of whom were in their first major film and have gone on to much bigger things.

Grace lives with co-worker Mason (John Gallagher Jr.) and has recently discovered that she is pregnant. We can see from her interactions with Mason that Grace is nervous about physical contact but initially the reasons are not forthcoming. At the facility that they both work in they are welcoming new employee Nate (Rami Malek), dealing with the fact that resident Marcus (LaKeith Stanfield) will soon be leaving the facility when he turns eighteen and trying to understand the needs of new resident Jayden (Kaitlyn Dever). Throughout the course of the story we will get to know Grace and Mason’s personal histories, why they are drawn to helping troubled teens and the scars that they still carry. We also get to know Marcus and Jayden really well and the difficulties of joining and leaving a group home.

Writer/director Destin Daniel Cretton apparently drew on his own experiences of working in a group home and also made a short story with the same title before setting out on making this film. The authenticity he gives all of the characters is outstanding and the depth that both the writing and performances give to the characters is exceptional. The feel and tone of the film is unshowy and feels very much like personal family films but it is quietly brilliant.

I found myself in tears quite a few times and yet the film is hopeful, both in terms of the characters we meet having a future and that there are people in this world committed to helping others.