81
Metascore
29 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100Entertainment WeeklyJoe McGovernEntertainment WeeklyJoe McGovern13th is a titanic statement by a major American voice. Viewing — right now — should be mandatory.
- 91The PlaylistRodrigo PerezThe PlaylistRodrigo PerezThe overwhelming force of The 13th is such that as the movie moves into its third act it becomes more and more heartbreaking in all its countless examples of injustice and abuse.
- 90TheWrapAlonso DuraldeTheWrapAlonso DuraldeIt’s a film that hits hard, but it also nails its targets with precision.
- 90The New York TimesManohla DargisThe New York TimesManohla DargisPowerful, infuriating and at times overwhelming, Ava DuVernay’s documentary 13TH will get your blood boiling and tear ducts leaking.
- 88Slant MagazineSteve MacfarlaneSlant MagazineSteve MacfarlaneAs with Selma, filmmaker Ava DuVernay has fashioned a work of pummeling and clear-eyed intelligence.
- 80The GuardianJordan HoffmanThe GuardianJordan HoffmanA few small hiccups aside, 13th is very much not a Michael Moore film. It is organised, detailed and powerful.
- 80Time OutTime OutWhat comes across loud and clear is that 13TH is a serious, timely, important work with highways and byways of thought that are worth traveling for anyone who cares to understand why, as DuVernay argues, slavery didn’t end with slavery.
- 70VarietyOwen GleibermanVarietyOwen GleibermanMore than just another documentary, it’s a crucial and stirring document — of racism and injustice, of politics and the big-picture design of America — that, I believe, will be watched and referenced for years to come.
- 70The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyThe Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyTo say 13th is stimulating and thought-provoking is the understatement of the year.
- 63Movie NationRoger MooreMovie NationRoger MooreIt’s a solid film, but the mission creep of its many messages, its format — interviews broken up by vintage news footage, old movies (“The Birth of a Nation”) — and a stylistic choice by DuVernay dull its impact.