Short Term 12
A compassionate foster-care counselor struggles to protect vulnerable teenagers while confronting the limits of her own resilience.
Overview
A young counselor navigates the challenges of caring for at-risk teens while facing her own life-changing decisions.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Mild
- empathetic
- heartbreaking
- intimate
- reflective evening
- social issue film night
What critics said
Critics broadly praised the film as an intimate, naturalistic, and deeply empathetic drama elevated by Brie Larson's performance and Destin Daniel Cretton's unsentimental direction.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The film observes Grace and her colleagues caring for vulnerable teenagers through frank, naturalistic scenes inside the foster-care facility.
Grace works with adolescents profoundly shaped by child abuse, abandonment, and destructive family relationships.
Handheld camerawork and unsentimental direction make the group home feel casually observed rather than theatrically staged.
Grace's responsibilities toward the teenagers intensify while marriage, pregnancy, and her own difficult perceptions force major decisions.
Films like Short Term 12, and why
The Florida Project
Shared intimate social realism, emotionally complex young people, and compassionate attention to institutional care.
Precious
Shared naturalistic performances, vulnerable adolescents, and a humane drama centered on difficult social circumstances.
Manchester by the Sea
Shared intimate character study, trauma-informed storytelling, and emotionally restrained but deeply moving drama.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Shared coming-of-age themes, troubled youth, and an empathetic institutional setting rendered through grounded ensemble drama.
Movie Details
- Director
- Destin Daniel Cretton
- Release Date
- 2013-08-23
- Runtime
- 96 min
- Rating
- 7.7 / 10 (1459)
Cast
- Brie Larson
- John Gallagher Jr.
- Kaitlyn Dever
- Rami Malek
- LaKeith Stanfield
- Kevin Hernandez
- Melora Walters
- Stephanie Beatriz
- Lydia Du Veaux
- Alex Calloway
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Amazon Prime Video, fuboTV, Philo, Fandor, Fandor Amazon Channel, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Cineverse Amazon Channel
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, Spectrum On Demand
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Short Term 12 about?
- A compassionate foster-care counselor struggles to protect vulnerable teenagers while confronting the limits of her own resilience.
- What is Short Term 12 like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Short Term 12 as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Short Term 12 violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in Short Term 12 as mild.
- What did critics think of Short Term 12?
- Critics broadly praised the film as an intimate, naturalistic, and deeply empathetic drama elevated by Brie Larson's performance and Destin Daniel Cretton's unsentimental direction.
- Which films are like Short Term 12?
- Films with a similar feel include The Florida Project, Precious, Manchester by the Sea, and The Perks of Being a Wallflower.
- How long is Short Term 12?
- Short Term 12 runs 96 minutes.
- Where can I watch Short Term 12?
- In United States, Short Term 12 streams on Amazon Prime Video, fuboTV, Philo, Fandor, Fandor Amazon Channel, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Cineverse Amazon Channel.
