13th

I will never be able to comprehend the thought process that goes behind someone willingly and proudly posing in a lynching photograph. "Hey Cletus we don't need flash with all these torches around you'll ruin it"

The otherwise interesting question of the commercial interests in a privatized prison system turns into a #EverydayRacism cumfest.

Having studied the 80's War on Drugs there's a great deal of correlation-equals-causation, mind-reading, & lies of omission going on post-70s. 1 of the most honest moments is when black politician Charles Rangel notes that the war seemed like a good idea at the time. But then Duvernay frames this as blacks buying into a racist conspiracy of Repubs, media & Dems. Try books by black authors - Locking Up Our Own or The Black Silent Majority for a less invidious & one-sided presentation of events.

The editing kept distracting me from the nakedly partisan political message. Apparently America's prisons are full of black men because white Republicans are so racist, alright that's dumbing down too much but it's comically blind to Democrat wrong-doing

This documentary's powerful and worthwhile message is too often hindered by distracting editing and an unfocused narrative. However, it will still be worth seeing for those who are interested.

An urgent film on a very important and heavy subject matter that works decently as a piece of rhetoric and not so well as an in-depth analysis. The statistics and facts often speak for themselves though and I can appreciate it as an engaging call to action with at least some reflective insight. Not a great film but it's kinda not meant to be.

Infuriating and very informative. Makes me understand racism and the anger of African Americans much more now. Will it ever change? I certainly hope so, but with racist people in power, it'll be extremely difficult.

Alexander's book says all of the same things, but this is probably just as effective. I would've liked more statistics, but if a lack of numbers helps more people see and understand the main arguments here, then that's good.

Incredibly frustrating and very timely. It didn't feel like it was made almost 5 years ago. Though the documentary itself felt a little too much like a special rather than a typical documentary, the subject matter is super important and as relevant as ever.

A fascinating, searing indictment of America and on top of that, a slick, fast-paced film.

This is a very eye-opening documentary on the prison system in the US and especially the racial discrimination relating to the overflowing amounts of prisoners in US. There was a lot about the history and development of these prejudices that made things clearer for me, but overall it doesn't really delve deep into anything. I'd say it's a good documentary to get one informed, but for a closer look at the subject one might have to look elsewhere. Still, a solid documentary.

A bit too biased and conspiratorial, but a good and informative documentary on the history of the justice system towards non-white people in america, and how much injustice they have received.

An inundation of atrocities some real and some far more complicated than as presented. It still stands as a nice piece of documentary work. Ultra conservatives will lambaste it but there is admitted republican railroading and deception in regards to policy. Its nice to see ALEC get some coverage too, and insanely unethical pre-fab legislation creator.

Occasionally goes a bit too far in twisting the presented facts, but most of the time it doesn't really need to, as the problem at the heart of it is all too real.

Maybe watching this in the midst of a pandemic that is very disproportionately killing African-Americans (many of whom are incarcerared) wasn't the best decision for my mental health. Not the best doc I've seen on the topic but still depressing, infuriating and absolutely essential.

W3E1P2S1V1M1A1R2. Was pretty underwhelmed by the format--strictly interviews with 5 or 6 people who already agree with the premise of the film (and only 2 who disagree, given short shrift); and some historical footage. It also spent too much time rehashing stuff we already know about Jim Crow, etc., leaving too little time to fully contemplate the truly fascinating new revelations about Alec and the war on drugs, etc. But definitely a disturbing (in a good way) film.

A mostly talking heads docu that makes a compelling argument. Towards the end, especially, there is presented a lot of disturbing information about the justice system.

Manages to be compelling and hold your interest despite the fact most of the documentary is basically people talking over statistics shown in a fancy way on screen.

This is a great documentary for the intro to this subject matter. Glad it's been made. The New Jim Crow is required reading after this.

Extremely powerful stuff (even if there are a small handful of admittedly baffling editing choices). Ava DuVernay is obviously a very talented filmmaker, and though much of this isn't new information, it's a very bold film in that it pulls no punches against the prison-industrial complex and white supremacy in America.

A very important and impactful documentary showing how slavery and racism never left America and is still rampant to this day.

Documentaries aren’t always my thing, but there’s never been a more essential watch if they are

Good documentary. Some of the editing was a bit overdone and cringy but overall it's a solid film.

An important documentary outlining the factors leading to America's current incarceration crisis.

Ava DuVernay's history-lesson indictment on "new slavery" - the mass incarceration of African-Americans - is a major wake-up call.

I feel like the most shocking part of 13th is how unsurprising all its information feels, even when I haven't heard it before. Perhaps that is its main point--that if you can't see its way as a real possibility in the United States then you are blinded by race and politics. Ava DuVernay makes sure that her message gets heard in a slickly edited package that brings in a host of different public figures, from antiracist activists to politicians from both major American parties.

Probably effective if you're unfamiliar with the subject matter, but I found it made some leaps in logic that frustrated me.

Heart-breaking and infuriating.

I've never been able to get my head around the US' backward race and crime issues. This totally explains it. If it wasn't for the constant drone of wallpaper music distracting me from the information and the repetitive summaries near the end, I would have rated this a little higher.

Quer passar duas horas de muita raiva? Assista a esse filme. Queria muito ter cortado o pinto de boa parte dos presidentes dos EUA, com especial ênfase no atual, em que eu cortaria em pedacinhos e o faria comer pedacinho por pedacinho. Filme #1 da Semana da Consciência Negra. Netflix Br.

I saw very similar documentary a few years back already, so it wasn't new or very interesting to me. USA is FUBAR.

Very good.

...and starring Ronald Reagan as Jason Voorhees.

I loved how the movie followed his own advise during the credits by starting the humanizing process. Beside that: I need a drink. God, why is Reagan judged so different than Nixon?! People are stupid. Sorry, I take that back. White people with power are evil. That's more accurate.

An important film about an important issue in this country: mass incarceration, particularly of blacks. What it lacks in cinematic invention and flair it makes up for with a convincing historical portrait of how we got to this point in the US.

This is real America? Trump's rise to power makes so much more sense now. It's just sad on all levels....

feels awkward to rate this on a cinematography level which is basically what i'm doing. the editing, pacing, and framing is very even, like a newscast. so there's a lot of potential left on the table. it basically makes a market based, liberal argument for abolition, which I understand will be very illuminating for tons of people. but leaves deeper problems untouched...

Genuinely engaging and frightening in a way that few documentaries of this sort are (by which I mean talking heads -> screen of stats -> voice telling history over old photos -> repeat). If you're me you come from it feeling hopeless and angry, but I'm certain more crafty people will be inspired to make change happen.

Pretty good documentary on an extremely important topic. It does not even need to be inventive so much the problem is glaring. I have two criticisms though: there's no comparison with other countries with massive black communities (say UK, France or Canada) and, although the roles of large companies is mentioned, the word 'capitalism' is never once uttered and there is no critique of it. Too bad as I believe that today racism and capitalism are inherently linked, each one furthering the other.

I am not sure what this fast-forward overall image of the historically deep rooted racialized dynamics of the US prison system actually succeeds to "reveal" - even for a non-American such as myself this seemed like a familiar story. The documentary did raise a lot of frustrating questions, though, "whys" and "hows"... difficult and contradictory questions that to me seem difficult to answer.