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13th

13th

Documentary · 2016

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

Movie details

13th

“From slave to criminal with one amendment.”

2016 Documentary 1h 40m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

7.8 / 10

Community rating

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

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over 13th?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

Icarus

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Night Will Fall

Night Will Fall

Documentary · 2014

When Allied forces liberated the Nazi concentration camps in 1944-45, their terrible discoveries were recorded by army and newsreel cameramen, revealing for the first time the full horror of what had happened. Making use of British, Soviet and American footage, the Ministry of Information’s Sidney Bernstein (later founder of Granada Television) aimed to create a documentary that would provide lasting, undeniable evidence of the Nazis’ unspeakable crimes. He commissioned a wealth of British talent, including editor Stewart McAllister, writer and future cabinet minister Richard Crossman – and, as treatment advisor, his friend Alfred Hitchcock. Yet, despite initial support from the British and US Governments, the film was shelved, and only now, 70 years on, has it been restored and completed by Imperial War Museums under its original title "German Concentration Camps Factual Survey".

McQueen

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The Menendez Brothers

The Menendez Brothers

Documentary · 2024

Serving life in prison for murdering their parents, Lyle and Erik Menendez speak out in this documentary explaining the shocking crime and ensuing trials.

JFK Revisited: Through the Looking Glass

JFK Revisited: Through the Looking Glass

Documentary · 2021

Thirty years after the release of his film JFK (1991), filmmaker Oliver Stone reviews recently declassified evidence related to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, which took place in Dallas on November 22, 1963.

Welcome to Chechnya

Welcome to Chechnya

Documentary · 2020

This searing investigative work shadows a group of activists risking unimaginable peril to confront the ongoing anti-LGBTQ program raging in the repressive and closed Russian republic. Unfettered access and a remarkable approach to protecting anonymity exposes this under-reported atrocity–and an extraordinary group of people confronting evil.

The Alabama Solution

The Alabama Solution

Documentary · 2025

Incarcerated men defy the odds to expose a cover-up in one of America’s deadliest prison systems.

For Sama

For Sama

Documentary · 2019

A love letter from a young mother to her daughter, the film tells the story of Waad al-Kateab’s life through five years of the uprising in Aleppo, Syria as she falls in love, gets married and gives birth to Sama, all while cataclysmic conflict rises around her. Her camera captures incredible stories of loss, laughter and survival as Waad wrestles with an impossible choice– whether or not to flee the city to protect her daughter’s life, when leaving means abandoning the struggle for freedom for which she has already sacrificed so much.

Time

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Documentary · 2020

Fox Rich, indomitable matriarch and modern-day abolitionist, strives to keep her family together while fighting for the release of her incarcerated husband. An intimate, epic, and unconventional love story, filmed over two decades.

Seaspiracy

Seaspiracy

Documentary · 2021

Passionate about ocean life, a filmmaker sets out to document the harm that humans do to marine species — and uncovers an alarming global conspiracy.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Ava DuVernay

Written by

Ava DuVernay · Spencer Averick

Jelani Cobb

Jelani Cobb

Self

Angela Davis

Angela Davis

Self

Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

Self

Michelle Alexander

Michelle Alexander

Self

Cory Booker

Cory Booker

Self - U.S. Senator (D) New Jersey

Marie Gottschalk

Marie Gottschalk

Self

M

Michael Hough

Self

Court is in session

Put 13th on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Auteur Devotee

“Ambition earns the room.”

The film reaches for consequence and scale, accepting the risk of seriousness instead of shrinking from it.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Importance has entered the chat.”

The production keeps announcing its significance, as though awards-season posture were proof of insight.