Short Term 12

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Director: Destin Daniel Cretton
Starring: Brie Larson, John Gallagher, Rami Malek 
Synopsis: A young foster-care supervisor looks after troubled teens and reckons with her own past.
In Theaters: August 23, 2013

I loved this. The premise is basically an afterschool special and the trailer isn't great so I was definitely skeptical. The SXSW buzz almost seemed to go out of its way in defense of small movies in order to praise this which definitely made me think it might not be my cup of tea. But saw this last week at BAMcinemaFest and it had me from the first scene. The execution of its potentially melodramatic premise feels so effortless it makes you wonder why more movies aren't able to achieve this balance of funny/sad/real. Loved the score, the performances, I laughed, I cried. There is one scene about two-thirds through that didn't quite work for me and that was the only time the film that lost me a bit but after that it was back on its game. End is wonderful too. This is prob my 2nd favorite movie (so far) this year.