THIRTEEN
(Catherine Hardwicke / 2003 / US / 100 min / cert. 18)
(Fri 13th/Sun 18th - Thurs 22nd / 8pm / £4/3)

This nationally acclaimed film, a Bristol premiere, has provoked much
controversy in the US due to its frank portrayal of adolescence and the pressure, experimentation and emotional turbulence that inevitably accompanies it. Co-written by Nikki Reed, who was 13 at the time and also acts in the film, it is a non-judgemental and honest exploration of what happens when
Tracy (Evan Rachel Wood) hooks up with Evie (Reed) and starts dressing up, wearing make-up, hanging out with boys and taking drugs. Holly Hunter stars as Tracy's mother, who watches in despair her daughter's metamorphosis, and tries desperately to reach out to the child she once had.

THIRTEEN has been described as a modern look at young women and their
contemporary surroundings. Female teenagers today are thrust into a strange new world in which cool is everything, and combined with hormonal surges this can be fatal. The crew if the film was almost exclusively female, and we can see this film as simultaneously a warning and a celebration.