Netflix viewers rocked by 'disturbing' movie based on true story that's 'every parent's worst nightmare'
Viewers say the movie starring Evan Rachel Wood has hit a nerve
A movie based on a harrowing real-life story has already deeply 'disturbed' viewers just days into dropping on Netflix.
Binge-worthy psychological dramas are in abundance on the streaming platform recently, from You to Gypsy and The Weekend Away, Netflix subscribers have been spoilt for choice.
However, viewers say they've been left reeling after stumbling across a particularly eerie and frightening movie that's not even dubbed a horror that boasts a familiar face from The Twilight Saga.
The story follows 13-year-old Tracy in Los Angeles, loosely based on the 14-year-old co-writer's real life experiences, as she tiptoes into drug abuse, sex, self-harm and a life of crime.
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Impressively, the screenplay for the 2003 teen drama was written in just six days between director, Catherine Hardwicke, and the then-teenage Nikki Reed, who portrayed Rosalie Hale in Twilight which Hardwicke also directed.
Yet far from a supernatural world of blood-sucking vampires, Reed's loosely autobiographical screenplay starring Holly Hunter and Evan Rachel Wood makes for a far more hair-raising watch as fans say what makes Thirteen so darkly disturbing is 'because it's real'.
Viewers say the movie is one of a handful that managed to actually capture 'what it's like to be a girl of that age' - while parents describe it as their 'worst nightmare'.
Taking to Reddit, another wrote: "So I watched Thirteen on Netflix recently and I haven’t stopped thinking about it. It might be the darkest movie I’ve ever watched and it’s not even classified as horror. That’s how heavy it is.
"There’s no supernatural force, no jump scares or anything like that. Just raw, spiraling human behavior, especially from young girls trying to find their place."
Without giving any spoilers away, the viewer even pointed out the physical appearance of the protagonist appears drastically different by the end of the movie.
"At the beginning, she’s just this sweet, insecure girl. But by the end? Her face, her body language …. it’s like you’re looking at a completely different person.
"There’s a moment where she doesn’t even look human anymore. Her pain and trauma show up physically on her face. She looked evil. Terrifying, even."
The Redditor continued: "This isn’t an easy watch. In fact, it was painful to sit through. But it’s one of those movies that sticks with you. It’s a reminder that adolescence is fragile."
Others also confessed that they happened to watch it under the belief it's a 'cute coming of age drama like Crossroads' and admitted after watching: "I was mistaken."
"Great film," chimed another, though they said it 'hit too close to home' to rewatch it - especially now they have daughters.
"My friend watched this and knee-jerk grounded his angelic 13-year-old daughter," added a third.
Many more have apparently resonated with the dark plot with the movie scoring an impressive 81 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.
"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," wrote one critic.
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"Thirteen tries too hard to shock... but it is nonetheless a sensational look at the flip side of the American dream," said another.
Despite its controversy at the time, the movie went on to earn Hunter an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress and Golden Globe nominations for both Hunter and Wood for Best Supporting Actress and Best Actress in a Drama respectively.
On its 20th anniversary in 2023, Reed reflected on co-writing the script as a teenager, telling Rolling Stone: "I was just a kid, and so I grew up as the world was watching this film.
"Maybe I would describe those experiences being more cathartic, as opposed to the writing process. I was unaware when we were writing that there was anything being processed at the time.”
Lifting the lid a little into her personal life in a tell-all interview with The Provocateur more recently, the mom-of-two said she had an 'unconventional' childhood - and Thirteen changed everything.
"I moved out when I was just 16 years old. I had to pay the bills and grow up super fast, so I worked because I needed to work, and I learned a lot along the way," she said.
"I don’t regret working on any of the projects that I did because it taught me so much about life. It was character building in that it taught me from a young age how to work hard, pay bills, and survive.
"Thirteen changed my life forever. Putting my life and my family’s life out there for the world to dissect was unknowingly one of the scariest things ever, and I was only 13 at the time. It also impacted my family in ways that I could have never predicted.
"While it was based on my experience as a teenager, it was still written from the POV of a teenager, meaning that there were more sides of the story to be told."
As for her friendship with Hardwicke, she said the director impacted her personal life just as much as her professional one.
"Catherine is a powerhouse. She won’t take no for an answer, and in an industry that was, and in many ways still is, male-dominated, she has created every opportunity for herself.
"I think what I love most about Catherine is her commitment to helping young women pursue their dreams. The domino effect that it has is unmistakable."
"Working with a female director early on in my career definitely set the bar high, and made me aspire to be more and do more," Reed continued. "I always knew that I would create, direct, and continue to write because I was surrounded by powerful women who didn’t allow gender bias to discourage them."
Thirteen is currently available to stream on Netflix.
Topics: Netflix, Evan Rachel Wood, Horror, Streaming, Film and TV
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