"SHORT TERM 12" IS PAINFUL BUT TRUE by Bennett Campbell Ferguson
As some of you probably know,
I’ve worked as a camp counselor for about a decade. I’ve spent time helping kids with art
projects, playing with them at recess, and on one occasion, even teaching the
rules of Chess. It’s something I love to
do, so much that when I’m on the job, I can easily imagine it being a full-time
career. What I find a little harder is
imagining myself doing the same job as the main characters in Destin Daniel
Cretton’s new film “Short Term 12”—working at a home for kids who are troubled,
abused, and constantly on the brink of self destruction.
This may not sound like material for a watchable film and
I won’t deny that “Short Term 12” is extremely painful. But it’s also a worthwhile journey. It’s elegantly written and executed, but it’s
not an artful product made to gush over.
Instead, it’s a piece that brings you in close contact with a group of
people whose compassion for one another is matched only by the agony they feel
inside.
Chief among that group is Grace (Brie Larson), whose
smooth competence at work hides any trace of inner turmoil (though not for
long). As the main person in charge of
working personally with the kids at the home, she knows the rules better than
anyone. “You have to be an asshole
before you can be their friend,” she tells a new recruit in the opening
scene. There’s truth to that but it’s
still hard to imagine anyone being a better friend to the kids then Grace. She listens to them, talks to them, draws with
them. She even shares stories from her
own life with them, which allows them to open up and grow.
Ultimately, all of the kids are uniquely pained, from
Sammy (Alex Calloway), who suffers from violent outbursts, to Marcus (Keith
Stanfield), who is burdened by crippling depression. But the true crux of the film is Jayden
(Kaitlyn Dever), an abused girl who Grace comes to identify and care about
deeply. Unfortunately, that doesn’t help
Jayden much. Even on her birthday, she’s
miserable, exploding with such violent force that Grace has to break down her
bedroom door and restrain her while she screams, “Why?”
As I watched this scene, I felt “Short Term 12” hitting a
new chord of unbearable sadness. A part
of me wondered if this one excruciating moment would stand alone, but it soon
gathers company. Marcus cutting himself;
Grace panicking when she learns her abusive father is about to be released from
prison…all of these scenes take you into a world where everybody seems to be
hurting. At first, the whole film seems
based around the question of whether or not Grace can help the kids survive,
but it soon becomes clear that the traumas she’s suffered have left her just as
vulnerable. She may not be trying to
kill herself like Marcus, but she’s just as angry and scared as Jayden, maybe
even more so.
I know what you’re thinking—if “Short Term 12” is so
painful, why should I watch it? Well, I
have an answer to that and I hope it will convince you to seek out Mr.
Cretton’s movie as soon as possible.
Without doubt, this director has crafted a movie that is sometimes hard
to bear. But despite their horrible
circumstances, there’s goodness in all of the characters. Grace and the other people who work at the
home are certainly capable of true generosity that we see throughout the film,
but the kids are as well. Even Marcus,
who’s almost completely lost in his own pain, cares about everyone else. When Jayden runs to her room, it’s Marcus who
gets out the construction paper and tells everyone to get started on a fresh
batch of birthday cards.
So—“Short Term 12” is not blind to the perils of
recovery. But as much as it emphasizes
trauma and abuse, it emphasizes the hope beyond them. The film may paint Grace’s job as a hellish
experience that can consume you, but she truly is making the world a better
place with each conversation with the kids, with each moment. Her job is in some ways an awful one, but
above all completely worthwhile and the same is true of “Short Term 12.”
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