Something Cult, Foreign-Language or Indie #142: Short Term 12 (2013).

In her first film lead, Brie Larson is Grace, the young head supervisor of the residents of Short Term 12, a group home for troubled teenagers. She lives with her colleague and long-term boyfriend Mason (John Gallagher, Jr.) but is very reluctant to confide in him. This continues even when Grace learns she's pregnant and plans to have an abortion. At work the main focus is on Marcus (Lakeith Stanfield), who's on the cusp of leaving the facility and doesn't feel ready for that. Meanwhile, the supervisory team welcome new member Nate (Rami Malek, who could've played this role in a coma). When Grace bonds with new patient Jayden (Kaitlyn Dever), a girl with a history of self-harming, she discovers a secret about Jayden's family past which resonates rather unpleasantly with her. Now as her own problems begin to snowball, Grace must keep Short Term 12 in order while cleaning her personal mess up.

Writer-director Destin Daniel Cretton, adapting his own short film, based Short Term 12 on his own experiences working in a facility for wayward youth, and it's a solid debut. His direction is very calm and non-judgmental in how it treats this story's two sides, and his screenplay is filled with dialogue that feels appropriate and authentic for each character. He also draws a luminous central turn from Brie Larson, who very shrewdly brings Grace's real reasons and passion for doing what she does out gradually for more emotional effect, and Gallagher, Dever, Stanfield provide engaging support, but Malek is totally wasted as I said. If I must fault his work anywhere, it's in how to my mind Cretton's efforts to narratively blend Grace's professional and personal conflicts don't quite gel in some parts. However, overall I do think his effort withstands that.

Short Term 12 also hit a chord with me because while I never had to be in an institution, growing up with autism spectrum and anxiety disorders meant I frequently had to attend therapy with or without other such children and teens, as well as my high school's special education unit which was frankly a minefield of incompetency. Anyway, this was clearly familiar and personal territory for Crettin, and he treads it with unwavering sincerity, compassion and objectivity. Short Term 12 is just lovely.