‎13th (2016) directed by Ava DuVernay • Reviews, film + cast • Letterboxd

13th

2016 Directed by Ava DuVernay

From slave to criminal with one amendment

An in-depth look at the prison system in the United States and how it reveals the nation's history of racial inequality.

Jelani Cobb Angela Davis Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Michelle Alexander Cory Booker Marie Gottschalk Michael Hough Gina Clayton David Keene James Kilgore Bryan Stevenson Nicholas Turner John Hagan Van Jones

Alternative Titles

A 13ª emenda, The 13th, Det 13:e tillägget, 13. lisäys, Тринадцатый, 13 Madde, Enmienda XIII, Der 13.

documentary

100 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Lucy ★★★★½ 1

ava duvernay really should already have an oscar by now
Review by Mike D'Angelo ★★ 17

35/100

Not a bad film, exactly—just one that I didn't need to watch, telling me a whole lot of things that I already know. First half hour in particular laboriously outlines 20th-century racial politics, assuming ignorance of such basics as The Birth of a Nation, Jim Crow laws, and the Southern strategy; I felt like I'd accidentally wandered into an 8th-grade history class, started wondering if maybe there were some papers I could correct. Eventually, DuVernay starts making a cogent, vital argument, viz. the tactical imprisonment of African-Americans as an extension of slavery, but in a way that still seems to be pitched at extremely low-information viewers. I was more or less familiar with the substance of O.J.: Made in…
Review by josh lewis ★★★ 1

lotta people will undoubtably only see this as a primer to the issue (dismissing how important primers are, i guess) but there's an astounding power to the way duvernay sequences this, the way she moves us through the major events, records and timelines with passion and anger, allowing black voices & art to naturally narrate, connecting the simple progression of power, policy and victim into the larger, shape-shifting systemic evil we're still allowing to abolish the freedoms/end the lives of lower class citizens, especially POC, today. one moment near the end that cinematically connects footage at trump rallies to footage from the civil rights movement in the 60s is absolutely harrowing as she goes on to present an essential & compelling case…
Review by matt lynch

"The opposite of criminalization is humanization."
Review by Lyzette ★★★½ 17

White people (or NBPOC, for that matter) who rate/review this film unfavorably because it "doesn't say anything we don't already know" need to understand that they as dissenters are not exceptional in their role in this entire fabric. Anti-racism might seem like common sense, but we just ushered into office a man who will undoubtedly continue this reign of white supremacy that has existed in this country for centuries. By not actively speaking out against these powers at play or by remaining neutral, you are inherently contributing to their existence being justified. And if you still don't understand this one basic fact
you've missed the point of the film entirely and there's no helping you.
Review by Anya Bo 🌹 ★★★★½ 23

4 minutes into this documentary and i was already crying, and i ain't even from the usa. it was incredibly powerful, gut-wrenching, too real and so informative, extremely well done and interesting.

my heart was aching the whole time, there is no change in america, (edit: for the black community) it has always been the same!!!

edit 2: i apologized to the guy that commented my review to not hurt his feelings, LISTEN people really believe that racism is over when it is clearly not, the black community still struggles to this day and its suffering isn't going to stop today nor tomorrow.

Recent reviews

Review by HELLLLHOOOOLE ★★★

Formally uh, boring, but ultimately thoughtful and good. There is, I think, a real opportunity here to interrogate the culpability of mass media that I think is ignored. When the Willie Horton ad is invoked, consider the asshole in Norman, Oklahoma who is swayed and wonder how and why that asshole is concerned with what's going on in NYC.
Review by stanky_janky ★★★★

wow, people who haven’t seen this probably should see this.
Review by liseu ★★★★½

Documentário muito bom e necessário
Review by Sam ★★★★½

A very important doc. It’s heavy-handed, but I like it a lot. Fists up for Angela Davis and all others who are fighting for this.

Highly recommended watch. It’s only 100 minutes.
Review by Luc Gehant ★★★★

Titled after the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which freed the slaves and prohibited slavery (unless as punishment for a crime). DuVernay contends that slavery has been perpetuated in practices since the end of the American Civil War through such actions as criminalizing behavior and enabling police to arrest poor freedmen and force them to work for the state under convict leasing; suppression of African Americans by disenfranchisement, lynchings and Jim Crow; politicians declaring a war on drugs that weigh more heavily on minority communities and, by the late 20th century, mass incarceration of people of color in the United States. She examines the prison-industrial complex and the emerging detention-industrial complex, demonstrating how much money is being made by…
Review by Quizrama ★★★★

As about as extensive, broad, specific, inspection-heavy as what feels good for a documentary considerate of something in every social and historical sphere of the United States' longevity, 13th, as well as being stylistically diverse and alive from one person to the next with contrasting viewpoints, is just so goddamn thorough, prying exactly where it needs to to seem both unique and persistent.
Review by Ben Hass ★★★★

Wow......very eye opening.
Review by lydia ★★★★

wow, i was speechless after watching this. honestly, i think this was the best documentary we've watched in ftv 112, and probably one of the best social change documentaries i've ever seen. i teared up on multiple occasions. it was seamlessly constructed and all the voices of the interviewees were beautifully incorporated to tell ava duvernay's story. her message rang loud and clear about the terrible structural violence against black people that has been implemented in american society for decades and continues to exist today
Review by aishface93 ★★★★

Finished Beale Street and went straight home to *finally* watch 13th. I’m struck by how prevalent the themes of this movie are in everyday conversations in 2019. (Young) Americans today seem so much more aware of the PIC, the problems with the carceral state, police brutality, etc. I view this film as part of America’s re-education