SHORT TERM 12 Review

Short Term 12 is a slice of life dramedy that will suck you in immediately and have you engulfed in the world of its timid characters that are doing nothing more than trying to do their part to make a difference in the world with an approach that truly means something to them. This film is one of those rare cases where I walked in knowing little to nothing about what I was going to experience, but I was pleasantly surprised to find a well balanced tone of what mirrors real life the closest. None of us live completely within the bounds of these genres that Hollywood has so conveniently put together so as to garner massive audiences for each one that cater to the dominant attitude one might carry. Despite the fact humans generally tend to gravitate towards specific personality traits or uncontrollable factors that determine how they are perceived the majority of us live a life filled with moments of equal highs and lows. Granted, this range of emotions is usually reserved to be explored in the smaller, less expensive films that tackle more singular subjects and therefor may have a more narrow audience looking for it, when they are done well they can likely appeal to whoever stumbles upon them and it seems Short Term 12 has the potential to have that appeal. Writer/director Destin Daniel Cretton has expanded his 2008 short film of the same name into feature length form and in doing so has given himself room to explore the devastating effects of what mental, physical and sexual abuse have on children and not just in the immediate aftermath but years and years on when you would hope the victim might have been able to look past and move on. It is as much an enlightening and inspirational film as it is a heart wrenching and extremely personal documentation of the individuals who have experienced such disgusting encounters and have had to grow and learn to adapt in a world that often times expects them to get over it without ever being able to accept the fact they might live what most of us would call a "normal life". With a strong script and some purely exceptional performances Short Term 12 turns out to be one of the more affecting films of the year that has probably been seen the least.