Short Term 12 (2013)

Written and directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, Short Term 12 is told through the eyes of Grace (Brie Larson), a twenty-something supervisor at a foster-care facility for at-risk teenagers. Passionate and tough, Grace is a formidable caretaker of the kids in her charge, and in love with her long-term boyfriend and co-worker, Mason (John Gallagher Jr.). But Grace's own difficult past, and the surprising future that suddenly presents itself, throw her into unforeseen confusion, made all the sharper with the arrival of a new intake at the facility, a gifted but troubled teenage girl with whom Grace has a charged connection. While the subject matter is complex and often dark, Short Term 12 finds truth and humour in unexpected places.