Thirteen

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Thirteen

R

Released Aug 20, 2003

1h 40m

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

81%

Tomatometer

152 Reviews

77%

Popcornmeter

100,000+ Ratings

Honor student Tracy Freeland (Evan Rachel Wood) has a troubling home life, but she is close to her mother, Melanie (Holly Hunter). While trying to conceal her inner turmoil by excelling academically, she befriends the calculating Evie (Nikki Reed), her school's queen bee. Evie talks Tracy into experimenting with drugs, exploring her sexuality and pickpocketing strangers to finance shopping sprees -- but before long, Melanie realizes she must step in and stop her daughter's destructive lifestyle.

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Critics Consensus

An emotionally wrenching, not to mention terrifying, film about the perils of being a teenager.

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Amy Taubin

Film Comment Magazine

The script is as overexcited as the girls themselves, and its affirmative ending is unearned.

Apr 10, 2018

Full Review

Neil Norman

London Evening Standard

It is here that the performances pay emotional dividends. The sight of Hunter kissing her daughter's self-inflicted scars as if trying to kiss away the psychological pain that raised them will haunt me for some time.

Jan 11, 2018

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Nell Minow

Common Sense Media

Explicit peer pressure story for older teens.

Rated: 4/5

Dec 29, 2010

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Marya E. Gates

Cool People Have Feelings, Too. (Substack)

The film remains a searing time capsule of a place, and a timeless elegy for that messy period in girls’ lives that we’re all lucky if we make it out in one piece.

Feb 13, 2024

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Tom Meek

Cambridge Day

Given the room for platitude and cliche, the film's wholly genuine, gritty and from the heart.

Rated: 3.5/4

Oct 3, 2020

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Kaleem Aftab

The List

Thirteen tries too hard to shock... but it is nonetheless a sensational look at the flip side of the American dream.

Rated: 4/5

Apr 17, 2019

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Taylor H.

It has its flaws, but this is an important movie.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

08/30/25

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James E

This is deeply uncomfortable, largely because of how real it feels. The lead cast does a great job at selling how hard life can be at this age.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

08/28/25

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Gemma F

I love this show so much, coming from a teenager i related to some of the parts and could watch it all day.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

08/18/25

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Lynne M

I've been wanting to watch this film since 2003! Finally got around to it. With an older mind and maturity level. So that is definitely my lens. I sometimes think the best movies aren't the ones with perfect production values, but the ones that come back to haunt you, involuntarily, the next few days. This is such a film. I found the hand-held camera shots, and the frenetic pacing of the film annoying, and kind of amateur, but I understand (at least I think I do) that is the director's way of illustrating the lifestyle of this family. It's not only the 13-year-olds that wear the many bracelets; low-cut tight jeans; cut-off t-shirts; and Braveheart-style braids; it's the adults, too. Immature adults are raising the kids, and that is a major part of the protaganist's problem. Throw in a new friend who is a manipulative prodigy, but pretty and popular, and you've got problems. Sounds like normal teenage probs for millions of kids today, but then you really understand this girl's pain at the end, in a gut-wrenching scene between mother and daughter. I think it's important to remember, that this girl is 13, not 17, and there is a profound difference - we are talking about the seventh grade people! The emotional pain of an intelligent, sensitive 13-year-old is not to be underestimated. Too often I think we do. Food for thought.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

08/16/25

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Elena F.

This movie was really entertaining it was definitely and emotional movie and had a backstory to it

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

08/11/25

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Raccoon T

This movie was amazing. It was moving and deep and the acting was so good, it felt real. It really told this story amazingly, to every detail, like the colors changing.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

08/08/25

Full Review

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Catherine Hardwicke

Director

Holly Hunter

Melanie

Evan Rachel Wood

Tracy

Nikki Reed

Evie Zamora

Jeremy Sisto

Brady

Kip Pardue

Luke

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Synopsis

Honor student Tracy Freeland (Evan Rachel Wood) has a troubling home life, but she is close to her mother, Melanie (Holly Hunter). While trying to conceal her inner turmoil by excelling academically, she befriends the calculating Evie (Nikki Reed), her school's queen bee. Evie talks Tracy into experimenting with drugs, exploring her sexuality and pickpocketing strangers to finance shopping sprees -- but before long, Melanie realizes she must step in and stop her daughter's destructive lifestyle.

Director: Catherine Hardwicke
Producer: Jeffrey Kusama-Hinte, Michael London
Screenwriter: Nikki Reed, Catherine Hardwicke
Distributor: 20th Century Fox, Fox
Production Co: Antidote Films, Michael London Productions
Rating: R (Language|Drug Use|Self Destructive Violence|Sexuality)
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 20, 2003, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 25, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA): $4.6M
Runtime: 1h 40m
Sound Mix: Surround

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