---
title: "13th"
year: 2016
kind: "film"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/13th"
fi1m_score: 84
critics_score: 88
critics_reviews: 19
published: "2026-09-17T05:24:15.071223+00:00"
updated: "2026-09-17T05:24:25.867717+00:00"
region: "US"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# 13th (2016)

Directed by Ava DuVernay · 1h 40m · Documentary

**Fi1m score: 84** · Critics 88 from 19 reviews

*In a sentence:* The small print of one amendment, read out slowly by clever, angry people for a hundred minutes

> Ava DuVernay’s documentary argues that American prisons picked up where slavery left off, and it makes the case with rare clarity and speed. The music never lets a sentence sit, and the last half-hour hurries, but we came out knowing things we had not known.

## Synopsis

In 1865 the Thirteenth Amendment abolishes slavery in the United States, except as punishment for a crime. Ava DuVernay’s documentary follows that exception through a century and a half of American law, from the convict leasing that follows the Civil War to the war on drugs and the private prison. Legal scholar Michelle Alexander, activist Angela Davis, lawyer Bryan Stevenson and historian Henry Louis Gates, Jr. sit in bare brick rooms and explain how each administration, from Nixon through Reagan to Clinton, added to the prison population. Senator Cory Booker speaks for the politicians; David Keene and Michael Hough speak for the other side. Archive footage, phone footage and animated statistics fill the gaps between them.

## Review

The Thirteenth Amendment to the American constitution, passed in 1865, abolished slavery except as a punishment for crime. Ava DuVernay’s film is about that exception. Her argument, written with her editor Spencer Averick, runs in a straight line: the clause was used within a few years to put freed men back to work in chains, and every system since, from the chain gang to the war on drugs to the privately run prison, has been a new way of doing the same thing. It runs 100 minutes and it does not stop for breath.

It is built from interviews. Michelle Alexander, Angela Davis, Bryan Stevenson and Henry Louis Gates, Jr. do most of the explaining, with Cory Booker, then a senator for New Jersey, speaking for politics. Kira Kelly and Hans Charles film them in bare brick rooms and on empty factory floors, lit from big windows, so that clever people talk about forced labour in the kind of space it was done in. Averick cuts between them quickly and lays the figures over the top in white type. Each time a speaker says the word “criminal” the word itself appears on screen, and by the end we flinched at it, which is the intention. Nixon, Reagan and Clinton each get a chapter, and the film’s point is that this was built by both parties.

We should say plainly what got to us. Near the end DuVernay cuts recent phone footage of Black men being shot by police against archive film from the 1960s of men being beaten by crowds. We were horrified. Then we noticed something worse: we had seen most of the phone footage before, on news sites, and it had stopped registering. Set beside the old film it registered again. That is the best thing the editing does, and it is done without a word of commentary.

The chapter on how prisons became a business is the one that stayed with us longest. David Keene and Michael Hough are on camera to be argued with, and to the film’s credit they are allowed to finish their sentences. The account of how a lobbying group of companies and legislators wrote laws that filled cells, and of who was paid when the cells were full, is delivered by Marie Gottschalk and others in the flat tone of people who have checked the invoices. It is duller than the beatings and it frightened us more.

Now the complaints. Jason Moran’s music sits under almost every sentence, a low pulse that tells us to be worried while a professor is already telling us why, and between chapters the film stops for songs with their lyrics printed on screen. The effect is of a film that does not trust silence, and after an hour we wanted one. The pace costs something too. A century and a half in 100 minutes means the Clinton years go past before the argument about them has quite closed, and there are perhaps two speakers on screen for every one the film has time to let think. The interviewees are nearly all on the same side, and the two or three who are not get less room than the case deserves.

DuVernay had made [*Selma*](https://film.one/film/selma) (2014) before this, a drama about a march, and it shows in the good way: she knows how long to hold on a face after the sentence ends, and she does it with Alexander and Stevenson to great effect. Against the essay documentary tradition, this is a lecture rather than an inquiry. It knows its conclusion before it starts and marshals everything toward it, and that is a fair way to make a film, but it means the viewer who already agrees gets confirmation and the viewer who does not gets a fight.

Watch it with someone who will argue with you afterwards. It is 100 minutes long and you will need another hour.

*Fi1m score 84, published 17 September 2026.*

## What the critics say

Nineteen reviews, all of them favourable, and the agreement is close to complete. Most critics take Ava DuVernay’s documentary as a lucid, forceful argument: that the loophole in the 13th Amendment allowed slavery to reappear as mass incarceration, and that the policies of successive administrations kept it going. The praise clusters on the argument itself, on how much history the film folds into a single case without losing its thread, and on the assembly of interviews, archive footage and statistics into something several reviewers describe as relentless. Many also note how directly it speaks to the present.

The reservations are few and small. The Guardian finds the ever-present music the one poorly judged element, and Vulture notes some overreaching and mannerisms while still calling the film essential. Nobody questions the thesis; the only variation is in how far the enthusiasm runs, from warm approval to outright acclaim, and even the coolest notices land well above the line.

### Reviews we read (19)

- **Slant Magazine** (4/4): The critic describes the film as a work of pummeling and clear-eyed intelligence that traces the disparity between legislative and de facto rights with enraged mettle. It singles out the effective balance of slick filmmaking with conversational human terms in delivering hard facts. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/13th/)
- **IndieWire**, Eric Kohn (90/100, inferred): The review hails the documentary as the most relevant film of the year for its searing, focused argument that folds multiple eras of history into a single powerful case about the criminalization of African Americans. It highlights the film's timely relevance and coherent structure. [Read](https://www.indiewire.com/features/general/13th-review-ava-duvernay-netflix-documentary-nyff-2016-1201732218/)
- **Los Angeles Times**, Kenneth Turan (90/100, inferred): Turan calls it a smart, powerful, disturbing and persuasively argued documentary that offers a brisk, cogently argued alternative to conventionally taught American history, systematically covering a century and a half of race relations with facts, statistics, talking heads and archival material. It makes its point with undeniable eloquence as well as persuasive force. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-13th-review-20161001-snap-story.html)
- **Sight and Sound**, Fanta Sylla (90/100, inferred): Ava DuVernay's documentary exposes how the US prison system functions as a modern form of slavery through the loophole in the 13th Amendment. It is a provoking analysis that changes one's outlook on the American criminal justice system. [Read](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/13th-review-ava-duvernay-shines-light-americas-slavery-loophole)
- **The Hollywood Reporter**, Todd McCarthy (90/100, inferred): The critic praises the film's comprehensive historical examination of how African Americans have been subjugated through the justice system since the 13th Amendment, calling it eloquently articulated and a must-see. It singles out the poised urgency of the interviews and the tight focus on the central premise of the myth of black criminality. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/13th-review-933922/)
- **The New Yorker**, Richard Brody (90/100, inferred): The critic praises DuVernay’s analytical and passionate documentary for tracing mass incarceration of Black Americans to the 13th Amendment’s loophole and linking it through history to policies from Nixon, Reagan, and Clinton as well as economic interests. It reveals fabricated crimes in service of oppression and an ongoing crime against humanity. [Read](https://www.newyorker.com/goings-on-about-town/movies/13th)
- **Time Out**, Dave Calhoun (90/100, inferred): Ava DuVernay’s dense, pulsating documentary on racial inequality and mass incarceration is compelling and timely. It is a powerful work of history and a lucid argument for change. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/13th)
- **Variety**, Owen Gleiberman (90/100, inferred): Gleiberman hails it as a crucial and stirring document of racism and injustice with piercing relevance in the age of Black Lives Matter, one that travels deep into history to reveal slavery’s legacy mutating into mass incarceration through the war on drugs and other policies. It employs nimble cinematic power to awaken the senses while sickening the moral center. [Read](https://variety.com/2016/film/reviews/13th-review-new-york-film-festival-ava-duvernay-1201874209/)
- **Little White Lies**, Joseph Pomp (4/4/4): DuVernay equates the US prison system to modern day slavery in this harrowing, urgent documentary. It offers a specialised introduction to the prison-industrial complex while maintaining a contemporary viewpoint. [Read](https://lwlies.com/reviews/13th/)
- **Radio Times**, Trevor Johnston (80/100, inferred): DuVernay offers a broader history of racial oppression through archive clips and interviews, surveying how mass incarceration impacted poor black communities. The film's argument is strong, articulately expressed, and backed up by disturbing images. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/film/fdfhsn/the-13th)
- **Vulture**, David Edelstein (80/100, inferred): The critic deems the film essential for making fresh mainstream connections about mass incarceration, economic contexts, and the evolution of slavery-like systems, while noting some overreaching and mannerisms. It singles out the vital impact and jaw-dropping contemporary parallels despite imperfections. [Read](https://www.vulture.com/2016/10/review-ava-duvernays-essential-imperfect-13th.html)
- **The Guardian**, Peter Bradshaw (70/100, inferred): Ava DuVernay’s lucid study of the links between slavery and the US penal system is packed with ideas and information. The ever-present music is the one poorly judged element of the film. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/oct/09/13th-review-bracing-fiercely-intelligent-prison-documentary-ava-duvernay)
- **Den of Geek**, David Crow (5/5): The critic calls 13th a sincere triumph and one of the best movies of the year for its meticulous deconstruction of the historic roots of mass incarceration in America as a bipartisan failure. They single out its strength in tracing the evolution of racial inequality through statistics, political dog whistles, and modern footage of protests. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/culture/13th-is-one-of-the-best-movies-of-the-year/)
- **Collider**, Chris Cabin (A): The critic praises DuVernay's furious, focused documentary for its well-researched argument linking mass incarceration to the continuation of slavery, highlighting its visual artistry and important message. [Read](https://collider.com/13th-review-ava-duvernay/)
- **Deadline**, Pete Hammond (90/100, inferred): The critic calls the film a stunning and enlightening documentary that exposes how the 13th Amendment's loophole has perpetuated systemic injustice against Black Americans through mass incarceration. It highlights the masterful integration of expert interviews, historical footage, and statistics to make a powerful case that demands attention. [Read](https://deadline.com/2016/10/13th-review-ava-duvernay-documentary-constitution-slavery-1201832980/)
- **The Playlist** (90/100, inferred): The review describes the film as an arresting and intelligently told documentary that builds a strong case for American incarceration as the modern substitute for slavery, indicting the pervasive nature of racism and oppression. It praises the way it sets up its thesis and examines the exploitation of the 13th Amendment's loophole. [Read](https://theplaylist.net/13th-searing-indictment-pervasive-racism-oppression-still-alive-america-review-20160929/)
- **The Ringer**, K. Austin Collins (90/100, inferred): The piece contrasts DuVernay's 13th favorably with another film, calling it marvelous for its angry, analytical approach to the racism of the American prison industry with precision and honesty. [Read](https://www.theringer.com/2016/10/06/uncategorized/what-does-an-important-film-look-like-a24aa6e85b49)
- **The Wrap** (90/100, inferred): The critic describes the film as a damning and precise exploration that connects the 13th Amendment's loophole to centuries of criminalization of Black men, from Reconstruction through modern policing and politics. It praises the use of mixed media, talking heads, and footage to create an undeniable, timely gut-punch that succeeds in making viewers feel the urgency. [Read](https://www.thewrap.com/13th-review-ava-duvernay/)
- **Eye for Film**, Owen Van Spall (85/100, inferred): The critic commends the documentary for assembling footage and facts into a relentless barrage that overwhelms the viewer and establishes terrifying implications about America's prison-industrial complex and ongoing racial inequality. It particularly highlights the chilling difficulty of dismantling the system due to entrenched corporate and economic interests. [Read](http://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/the-13th-2016-film-review-by-owen-van-spall)

## Details

- **Director:** Ava DuVernay
- **Director:** Ava DuVernay
- **Writer:** Ava DuVernay, Spencer Averick
- **Cinematography:** Kira Kelly, Hans Charles
- **Editor:** Spencer Averick
- **Music:** Jason Moran
- **Producer:** Ava DuVernay, Spencer Averick, Howard Barish
- **Cast:** Jelani Cobb as Self; Angela Davis as Self; Henry Louis Gates, Jr. as Self; Michelle Alexander as Self; Cory Booker as Self - U.S. Senator (D) New Jersey; Marie Gottschalk as Self; Michael Hough as Self; Gina Clayton as Self
- **Runtime:** 1h 40m
- **Release (the US):** 7 October 2016
- **Genres:** Documentary

## Where to watch in the US

- Netflix: streaming

*Checked 2026-09-17.*

Also available in: AE, AR, AT, AU, AZ, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EC, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, HK, HR, HU, ID, IE, IL, IN, IS, IT, JP, KR, LT, MX, MY, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PE, PH, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SG, SI, SK, TH, TR, UA, US, VN, ZA. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## If you liked this

- *The Thin Blue Line* (1988), Fi1m 90: Errol Morris takes one wrongful conviction apart, slowly, and the system with it. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-thin-blue-line.md)
- *I Am Not Your Negro* (2016), Fi1m 85: James Baldwin’s words over the same archive, angrier and more patient at once. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/i-am-not-your-negro.md)
- *The House I Live In* (2012): The war on drugs from the cell, the squad car and the courtroom, without a pulse track.
- *The Act of Killing* (2012), Fi1m 88: Indonesian killers re-enact their crimes; the other way to make an argument on film. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-act-of-killing.md)
- *Time* (2020), Fi1m 77: One family waits twenty years for a sentence to end; the human cost of the statistics. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/once-upon-a-time-in-hollywood.md)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/13th