Although it’s about teenagers, Thirteen is anything but a film for kids. Starring Nikki Reed, Holly Hunter, and Evan Rachel Wood, the movie is loosely based on Reed’s early life and follows a seventh grader from Los Angeles who is drawn to a troubled classmate, leading to her engaging in drug abuse, sex, and criminal activity. The ultra low-budget, controversial movie became a critical hit and earned its stars several award nominations, while also being totally women-led as a production — something depressingly rare now, but even more elusive back when the film was released in 2003. If you remember being wowed by it when it came out, or have only just recently stumbled across it and want to watch something similar, here are the 10 best movies like Thirteen.
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Directed by Larry Clark, with a script written by Harmony Korine, and starring indie darling Chloë Sevigny in her feature film debut, this independent coming of age movie made waves when it was released back in 1995. Set in Brooklyn, it follows a group of teens over the course of one drug and sex fuelled day, leading to life changing consequences for a number of them. Some felt the film leaned too heavily on shock value, while others believed it didn’t have anything too original to say despite its controversial nature, but there’s no doubt it’s an emotionally affecting and at times hard to watch film. Very similar to Thirteen in terms of themes, but with even less redemption for the characters.
Precious
Is Precious, the 2009 film adapted from Push by Sapphire, exploitative poverty porn? Potentially. But is it also raw, engrossing, and deeply affecting? Definitely. One thing is for sure: the cast in this grim but highly engaging film carry the script, making viewers gravitate towards the screen even as it becomes more and more uncomfortable to see our protagonist suffer at the hands of those who are supposed to care for her. Precious follows the titular character, an illiterate teenager played brilliantly by Gabourey Sidibie. Precious suffers from verbal and physical abuse at her mother’s hands while also being pregnant by her own father for a second time. However, when given the chance to move to a different school, she is able to finally make some positive changes in her life. Sad, controversial, and with a great soundtrack: this film will either make you weep or make you feel sick, but it will make you feel.
Girl, Interrupted
Winona Ryder was already a star when she played the lead role of Susanna in this psychological drama based on a memoir of the same name. The plot follows Susanna, who ends up at Claymore mental institution after an attempt to end her own life. While in the ward, she befriends various other young women, all of whom end up having a huge impact on her life. While the film itself received mixed reviews, Ryder’s co-star Angelina Jolie earned an Oscar and Golden Globe for best supporting actress for her performance as Lisa, a sociopathic long-term resident of Claymore who Susanna befriends. Again, not the easiest watch, but there is at least a somewhat happy ending.
We Need to Talk About Kevin
In an age where school shootings are as common as colds, We Need to Talk About Kevin still gives us an interesting insight into a much overlooked aspect of kids killing other kids in places of learning: how it affects the family of those who committed the horrible acts. Tilda Swinton stars as Eva, mother to the titular Kevin, a troubled boy who eventually massacres kids at his school using a bow and arrow. Like Thirteen this is about a truly troubled child, although the outcome of his issues are a lot more deadly and dangerous. Based on a book of the same name by distinctly average author and big time racist Lionel Shriver, the film is carried well by Swinton, and is well worth a watch, even if it does mean giving some cash to a woman who writes about the perils of immigration while living in a different country to the one of her birth.
Foxfire
This coming of age film is based on a novel by the celebrated writer Joyce Carol Oates, and chronicles a group of young women who meet a mysterious and beautiful drifter, who convinces them to seek revenge on a school teacher who’s been sexually harassing them. After they’re suspended for fighting back, they form an incredibly close bond that leads to them committing more crimes, until they’re in too deep. A bit of a middling movie that doesn’t really say much (and deviates from the best bits of its source material), this definitely has a similar vibe to Thirteen, but feels a little too neat to really live up to the film this list is about.
Augusta, Gone
August, Gone is incredibly similar to Thirteen in terms of plot and themes, although unlike the film that inspired this list has a main character who goes off the rails of her own accord instead of a bad influence. As the titular character spirals into worse and worse behavior, partying, taking drugs, and stealing, her mother desperately tries to intervene, only for her daughter’s behavior to decline further. She eventually sends Augusta off to a special camp, but even they have issues with taming her, and soon the struggling mother and her ex-husband realize getting their daughter back won’t be an easy process.
Towelhead
An intriguing look at the intersection of race, gender, and class, this disturbing film follows a teen as she tries to grapple with her burgeoning sexuality after being sent to live with her strict, conservative father. While there, she suffers from racist abuse from her new classmates, as well as being groomed by a handsome but predatory neighbour (Aaron Eckhart, who is brilliant). Definitely not one for the whole family, Towelhead is nonetheless a gripping watch, even if it does lack subtlety and nuance in a lot of places. Still, like Thirteen, it’s an excellent portrait of a teenage girl in trouble.
Heathers
This dark teen comedy classic differs from the rest of this list as it has a lot more obvious humor in it, but like Thirteen is a disturbing coming of age story that focuses on what happens when kids grow up too quickly. Winona Ryder gets her second entry on this list, and she stars as Veronica, one of the four most popular girls in school, and the only one of the quartet not named Heather. She becomes disillusioned with the power dynamics within the group, and, alongside the psychotic new boy who she has a crush on, begins a murdering spree of all the popular kids. Definitely not as gritty as other films on this list, but still dark in all the right ways.
Christiane F.
Although Christiane F. was made all the way back in 1981, this incredibly bleak and unrelenting film will still shock just as much today. It follows the titular character, a normal, David Bowie-loving thirteen year-old who falls in with the wrong crowd and gets into a party lifestyle, becoming a full blown heroin addict by her fourteenth birthday. David Bowie cameoed as himself in the movie, and it’s pretty much the only light moment in the entire production. The frank and brutal depictions of drug abuse and underage prostitution are vital to the film rather than being devices to draw controversy, and it immediately became a cult classic upon its release.
Kidulthood
This 2006 teen drama set in West London is gritty and dark, but packs a surprising emotional punch too. It follows a group of teens after they get the day off from school when one of their fellow pupils kills herself after intense bullying. Instead of using the day to mourn, the characters set about getting ready for a party later that day, while also settling old scores. Full of sex, violence, and drug use, like Thirteen this is an uncompromising look at growing up (albeit in one of the rougher parts of London, rather than in L.A.), but also doesn’t just use its subject matter to shock for the sake of it. A great watch that inspired two so-so sequels.
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