Movie Review Monday: Short Term 12
Welcome to another edition of Movie Review Monday!
This week's movie from Netflix is Short Term 12, starring Brie Larson. The synopsis of the film (via Netflix), is that "A new charge at a foster care facility dredges up the memories of a young supervisor's (Larson) own troubled past, and her tough exterior begins eroding."
I found this movie to be very emotionally powerful, engaging, raw, and real. Larson carries the movie along and does a fantastic job as the troubled lead, showcasing a fracturing stoicism throughout the film. The cracks of vulnerability show up subtly at first, but then all the emotions stirring inside her begin to explode. I have enjoyed Larson in other bit roles she has been in like in Scott Pilgrim VS The World or Community but she knocks it out of the park with this one. All of the foster kids also beautifully embody such fragile emotional stability, breaking down under the weight of their own life stories.
The movie's takeaway is a good one; that bad things may happen to us, but we don't have to carry the burden on our own. Even further than that, the film tells us that family can be what we make of it. It can be comprised of whomever we choose and we don't have to live in the shadow of the past, a past that may be comprised of uncaring, abusive, abandoning families. There is a way forward, and there are people in our lives that can help us through it.
You can check out Short Term 12 streaming on Netflix right now.