---
title: "Short Term 12"
year: 2013
kind: "film"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/short-term-12"
fi1m_id: "short-term-12"
imdb_id: "tt2370248"
tmdb_id: 169813
wikidata_id: "Q14623727"
fi1m_score: 86
critics_score: 79
critics_reviews: 22
published: "2026-09-15"
updated: "2026-09-18T08:37:42.968450+00:00"
region: "US"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Short Term 12 (2013)

Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton · 1h 36m · MPA R · Drama

## Identity

Short Term 12

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/short-term-12
- **Type:** Film
- **Fi1m ID:** short-term-12
- **IMDb ID:** tt2370248
- **TMDB ID:** 169813
- **Wikidata ID:** Q14623727
- **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2370248/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/169813, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14623727

**Fi1m score: 86** · Critics 79 from 22 reviews

*In a sentence:* The teenagers are allowed to be troubled; the staff have to fit it around work

> Brie Larson gives this foster-home drama a convincing mixture of competence and hurt. We recommend it warmly for the performances and the humour, with a reservation about a script that sometimes arranges suffering too neatly.

## Synopsis

Grace Howard (Brie Larson) supervises staff at a short-term foster care facility for teenagers. The job asks her to support the residents without becoming their friend, while she has personal troubles of her own to manage. Humour helps the staff through their daily work, but Grace’s past increasingly intrudes on her responsibilities. Around her are Mason (John Gallagher Jr.), Jayden Cole (Kaitlyn Dever), Nate (Rami Malek) and Marcus (LaKeith Stanfield). Written and directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, the drama follows carers and young people trying to cope with distress while keeping the routines of the home going.

## Review

*Short Term 12* is a compassionate, often funny drama that we recommend despite some over-tidy plotting. Writer-director Destin Daniel Cretton follows Grace Howard, a young supervisor at a short-term foster care facility, as her own troubles increasingly affect her work. She is supposed to support the residents without becoming their friend. Cretton takes that professional boundary seriously, then considers how difficult it is to maintain when the carers are struggling too.

Brie Larson makes Grace’s competence convincing without pretending that competence means she is all right. Her performance holds the supervisor and the troubled young woman together, so we do not feel we are watching an actor switch between two separate character descriptions. We were moved by how hard Larson makes Grace work to stay composed around the teenagers. That effort gives the scenes their force: she has other people’s distress to attend to, and cannot make every difficult moment about herself.

The ensemble gives Larson something to respond to besides suffering. John Gallagher Jr. as Mason, Kaitlyn Dever as Jayden Cole and LaKeith Stanfield as Marcus give the other characters enough presence to keep Grace from dominating every encounter. The younger performers are particularly good at resisting the sweet, grateful manner this kind of drama can encourage. Cretton’s banter lets humour belong to the people doing the work and living in the home, without making their pain into a joke.

Brett Pawlak’s cinematography stays close enough to the people for that mixture of humour and hurt to register without much explanation. The unpolished look suits a place where staff and residents have more pressing concerns than appearing composed. Rachel Myers’s production design supports the same impression of an ordinary workplace, and that ordinariness is valuable. The surroundings do not distract from the daily dealings between staff and residents.

Nat Sanders’s editing is strongest in the shifts between staff humour and distress, keeping the changes clear without making the jokes feel like compulsory relief. At 96 minutes, the film has room for an ensemble without lingering over each character’s importance. Joel P. West’s music is less necessary to its effect, and occasionally feels like encouragement we do not need. The cast have already done enough to make us care; those passages would have been stronger with less music.

The larger reservation concerns Cretton’s script, which sometimes makes the connections between the carers’ troubles and the residents’ troubles too convenient. We can understand why these people recognise something of themselves in one another, but the plotting occasionally seems determined to prove it. When that happens, their difficulties start to feel selected for the effect they will have on Grace. The performances remain persuasive through these stretches, although we would have preferred the writing to leave a little more room for experiences that do not line up.

Within the familiar drama about an adult helping troubled young people, Cretton makes the daily responsibility of caring feel worth watching in itself. Grace is not required to become endlessly wise before she can be useful to someone else. That gives Larson room to play a person whose difficulties do not cancel out her abilities, and gives the film a reason to exist beyond delivering another lesson in kindness. Allow a little quiet after it finishes.

*Fi1m score 86, published 15 September 2026.*

## What the critics say

Most critics respond warmly to Short Term 12, with praise centred on Brie Larson’s performance as Grace, a compassionate supervisor carrying troubles of her own. The reviews repeatedly credit her with making the character’s strength and vulnerability convincing, while also praising the young cast’s natural performances. Cretton’s writing and direction draw approval for finding humour in daily routines at the foster care facility and treating trauma without reducing the residents to their suffering.

The disagreement concerns how honestly the film earns its emotional effects, and the spread runs from enthusiastic endorsement to outright rejection. Even some favourable reviews find the plotting calculated or the more cathartic moments overstated. Time Out admires Larson but finds the drama overwrought and manipulative; The Guardian is the clearest dissenter, judging the characters clichéd and the story contrived despite sincere performances. Most critics, though, find enough restraint and observed detail to support the film’s emotional force.

## Straight answers

**Is Short Term 12 worth watching?**

*Short Term 12* is worth watching for anyone who wants a compassionate, often funny drama about carers and troubled teenagers, and we scored it 86. Brie Larson and the young ensemble carry it; our reservation is a script that sometimes lines up the carers' troubles with the residents' too neatly. Allow a little quiet after it finishes.

**How long is Short Term 12, and what is it rated?**

*Short Term 12* runs 1h 36m and is rated R by the MPA in the US. It is a drama film.

**Where can I watch Short Term 12 in the US?**

*Short Term 12* is streaming on Amazon Prime Video, The Roku Channel and Tubi in the US, and it is also available to rent from Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV from $2.99. Availability is checked daily; the links above go straight to each service.

**How violent or frightening is Short Term 12, and is it suitable for children?**

*Short Term 12* is rated 15 in the UK and R in the US, and it is not for children. There is little physical violence, but the film deals throughout with teenagers in distress and with the troubled pasts of both residents and staff, and those scenes are upsetting. Older teenagers who can sit with hard subject matter should be fine.

**How does Short Term 12 compare to The 400 Blows?**

*Short Term 12* and [*The 400 Blows*](https://film.one/film/the-400-blows) both give a troubled young person's behaviour patient attention without an adult's reassuring explanation, though they come at it from opposite sides. Truffaut stays with the neglected boy; Cretton stays with the carers trying to keep a home running. Truffaut's is the greater film, but Cretton's is warmer and funnier, and the better evening if you want to be moved rather than sobered.

**What should I watch after Short Term 12?**

After *Short Term 12*, try [*The 400 Blows*](https://film.one/film/the-400-blows) (1959, Fi1m 91): A child’s difficult behaviour receives patient attention without an adult’s reassuring explanation. Then [*Nobody Knows*](https://film.one/film/nobody-knows) (2004, Fi1m 87): Children manage adult neglect through daily routines, observed with patience and restraint; and [*Leave No Trace*](https://film.one/film/leave-no-trace) (2018, Fi1m 88): A parent and child struggle with care that cannot solve every problem.

### Reviews we read (26)

- **IndieWire**, Eric Kohn (A): The movie pulls off a tricky balance of imbuing its story with emotional weight while not coming across as cloying. Impeccable performances all around, especially from Brie Larson as the young supervisor. [Read](https://www.indiewire.com/article/sxsw-review-emotional-troubled-youth-drama-short-term-12-pulls-off-tricky-balance)
- **Empire**, Ian Freer (90/100, inferred): The critic calls it the biggest surprise of 2013 for being fresh, funny and moving without resorting to inspirational tropes. They single out the meticulously crafted script and Brie Larson's standout performance for praise. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/short-term-12-review/)
- **Vulture**, David Edelstein (90/100, inferred): The finest and most wrenching American fictional movie so far this year, with a breakout performance by Brie Larson as a counselor whose empathy transforms therapy-speak into something profound. The young actors are extraordinary and the film leaves you shaken but not bereft. [Read](https://www.vulture.com/2013/08/movie-review-short-term-12.html)
- **Los Angeles Times**, Kenneth Turan (85/100, inferred): The critic calls it a small wonder of exceptional naturalness and empathy that turns potentially generic material into something moving and intimate. It singles out Brie Larson's generous and persuasive performance as the staff supervisor. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-short-term-12-review-story.html)
- **The Times**, Wendy Ide (85/100, inferred): The critic calls the film wonderfully fresh and genuine, commending its respectful treatment of damaged characters, natural performances, irreverent humour and cathartic moments. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/world/us-world/article/short-term-12-2npcqhfs3v5)
- **Total Film**, Kevin Harley (85/100, inferred): The critic praises the film for crafting lived-in emotions drawn from real experience rather than voyeurism or sentimentality. They single out Brie Larson's nuanced performance as the damaged but compassionate carer Grace for particular praise. [Read](https://www.gamesradar.com/short-term-12-review/)
- **Little White Lies**, Adam Woodward (3/4/4): The critic finds the film a powerful human drama told with honesty and compassion, elevated by a barnstorming performance from Brie Larson that makes Cretton one to watch. [Read](https://lwlies.com/reviews/short-term-12)
- **Screen Daily** (80/100, inferred): The critic calls the drama affecting and moving, praising its sincere emotional intensity, realistic performances especially from Larson, and Cretton's direction based on personal experience. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/short-term-12/5053109.article)
- **The New York Times**, Manohla Dargis (80/100, inferred): The review highlights the delicate intensity of feeling in this drama about young lost people at a group home hoping to be found. It singles out the director's thoughtful choices and the terrific, persuasive performance by Brie Larson. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/23/movies/short-term-12-delves-into-life-at-a-group-home.html)
- **Variety**, Peter Debruge (80/100, inferred): The review praises this compelling human drama for finding fresh energy in the inspirational-teacher genre and constantly revealing new layers to its characters. It singles out Brie Larson's thick-skinned supervisor as the most complex. [Read](https://variety.com/2013/film/reviews/film-review-short-term-12-1200007615/)
- **Slant Magazine**, R. Kurt Osenlund (70/100, inferred): The greatest virtue is its intimate understanding of the people who work in such facilities and the symbiotic therapy at play. There is tremendous dramatic value in the aching scenes of the kids’ private torments, though the narrative often feels calculated. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/short-term-12/)
- **Evening Standard** (60/100, inferred): The critic finds Brie Larson incredible as the dedicated supervisor Grace but notes that some plot turns are hard to swallow and one scene is absurd. They single out the authentic lo-fi atmosphere for praise while acknowledging the film's slight cheats for emotional effect. [Read](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/short-term-12-film-review-8917004.html)
- **Time Out**, Tom Huddleston (3/5): While acknowledging the film's heart and charm and praising Brie Larson's performance, the critic finds it overwrought and manipulative, never quite ringing true for UK viewers. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/short-term-12)
- **The Guardian**, Peter Bradshaw (30/100, inferred): The critic finds the film well-intentioned and sincerely acted but ultimately inauthentic, citing clichéd characters and a contrived ending that fails to convince. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/nov/01/short-term-12-review)
- **Film Comment**, Jonathan Robbins: The critic praises the film's earnest and honest portrayal of children’s suffering while noting its hopeful and humorous tone amid difficult situations. Larson’s forceful performance and Cretton’s directorial instincts, especially in camera placement, are highlighted as strengths. [Read](https://www.filmcomment.com/review-short-term-12-brie-larson/)
- **RogerEbert.com**, Christy Lemire: The critic praises the film's delicate and truthful understatement that lets the humanity of its characters shine through naturally. It highlights the naturalistic approach to the group home setting and Brie Larson's revelatory lead performance. [Read](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/short-term-12-2013)
- **The Hollywood Reporter**, John DeFore: A genuinely moving look at life in a group foster home that avoids most of the usual routes into viewers’ hearts. Brie Larson gives a breakthrough performance in an effortlessly balanced film that produces hold-your-breath moments. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movie/short-term-12/review/428883)
- **/Film**, Germain Lussier (10/10): Short Term 12 is a funny, moving, and emotionally resonant film that stands as cinematic perfection thanks to its mind-blowing performances, sharp writing, and beautiful direction. It excels in its natural handling of complex character turns and realistic portrayal of life in a group home for foster kids. [Read](https://www.slashfilm.com/525404/short-term-12-review-the-sxsw-grand-jury-and-audience-winner-is-a-funny-emotional-piece-of-cinematic-perfection-sxsw-2013/)
- **Collider**, Matt Goldberg (A): The critic praises the film's honest handling of emotional trauma through strong direction, script, and performances, especially Brie Larson's breakthrough role, noting it earns its emotional impact without being manipulative. The review highlights the seamless tonal shifts and the power of art in helping characters confront their pasts. [Read](https://collider.com/short-term-12-movie-review/)
- **The Playlist**, The Playlist Staff (A): The film authentically captures the daily realities and emotional complexities of staff at a short-term foster care facility through sharp writing and a perfectly balanced tone of humor and heart. Brie Larson's riveting central performance anchors the story as a young woman confronting her own past while caring for the residents. [Read](https://theplaylist.net/review-short-term-12-starring-brie-larson-john-gallagher-jr-rami-malek-20130821/)
- **Digital Spy**, Stella Papamichael (4/5): The review calls it a small film with a big heart that features star turns, particularly from Brie Larson as Grace. It singles out the natural, raw energy of the child actors and the director’s feel for banter that lightens the daily tribulations. [Read](https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a526517/short-term-12-review-a-small-film-with-a-big-heart/)
- **Eye for Film**, Richard Mowe (4/5): Destin Cretton crafts an authentic story of young counselors at a foster care center dealing with their own traumas while supporting troubled teens. The film's strength lies in its realistic characters and the standout performance from Brie Larson, who brings both fragility and strength to the role. [Read](http://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/short-term-12-2013-film-review-by-richard-mowe)
- **HeyUGuys**, Kenji Lloyd (4/5): The film delivers a career-defining performance from Brie Larson as a dedicated supervisor at a foster care facility whose personal issues surface amid new arrivals and revelations. It stands out for its emotional range and authentic portrayal of the challenges faced by staff and residents. [Read](https://www.heyuguys.com/short-term-12-review/)
- **The Skinny**, Rachel Ashenden (4/5): The critic highlights the film’s nuanced performances and lo-fi aesthetic that reflect its realism, noting it as a rare work about life after abuse. The cathartic ending is called slightly overwrought but a minor quibble in this outstanding work. [Read](https://www.theskinny.co.uk/film/dvd-reviews/short-term-12)
- **Consequence** (B-): The critic lauds Brie Larson's standout dual portrayal of a composed counselor and a traumatized young woman, calling it one of the year's great performances, while noting the film's strong ensemble work. It singles out the realistic depiction of staff and teens but criticizes the overly triumphant ending that prioritizes feel-good moments over harsher realism. [Read](https://consequence.net/2013/08/film-review-short-term-12/)
- **Paste**, Curtis Woloschuk (8.2): The critic commends the film's authentic portrayal of life at a foster care facility and its subtle exploration of lingering trauma through Brie Larson's nuanced performance as Grace. It singles out the strong ensemble and the way the story avoids easy resolutions while emphasizing tentative progress. [Read](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/short-term-12)

## Details

- **Director:** Destin Daniel Cretton
- **Director:** Destin Daniel Cretton
- **Writer:** Destin Daniel Cretton
- **Cinematography:** Brett Pawlak
- **Editor:** Nat Sanders
- **Music:** Joel P. West
- **Production design:** Rachel Myers
- **Costume design:** Joy Cretton, Mirren Gordon-Crozier
- **Producer:** Joshua Astrachan, Ron Najor, Asher Goldstein
- **Cast:** Brie Larson as Grace Howard; John Gallagher Jr. as Mason; Kaitlyn Dever as Jayden Cole; Rami Malek as Nate; LaKeith Stanfield as Marcus; Kevin Hernandez as Luis; Melora Walters as Dr. Hendler; Stephanie Beatriz as Jessica
- **Runtime:** 1h 36m
- **Certificate (MPA):** R
- **Release (the US):** 23 August 2013
- **Genres:** Drama
- **Budget:** $1 million
- **Box office:** $2 million
- **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfwabBAwzJU

## Where to watch in the US

- Amazon Prime Video: streaming
- The Roku Channel: free, hd
- Tubi: free, hd
- Amazon Prime Video: free
- The Roku Channel: add-on, hd
- Amazon Prime Video: add-on
- Amazon Prime Video: rent $2.99, sd
- Apple TV: rent $3.99, hd
- Apple TV: buy $7.99, sd
- Amazon Prime Video: buy $9.99, sd

*Checked 2026-09-15.*

Also available in: AT, AU, BE, CA, CH, DE, FR, GB, MX, NZ, UA, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## If you liked this

- *The 400 Blows* (1959), Fi1m 91: A child’s difficult behaviour receives patient attention without an adult’s reassuring explanation. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-400-blows.md)
- *Nobody Knows* (2004), Fi1m 87: Children manage adult neglect through daily routines, observed with patience and restraint. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/nobody-knows.md)
- *The Class* (2008): Another workplace drama where good intentions meet young people with their own ideas.
- *Leave No Trace* (2018), Fi1m 88: A parent and child struggle with care that cannot solve every problem. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/leave-no-trace.md)
- *The Quiet Girl* (2022), Fi1m 84: Patient attention to a withdrawn child makes small acts of care matter. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-quiet-girl.md)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/short-term-12