Thirteen

Nobody I know acted like this at 13. Thank god!



Thirteen is about a girl called Tracy, played by Even Rachel Wood, who decides to follow Evie (Nikki Reed) who is the most popular girl at school. She copies everything about her, what she wears, what she does and who she hangs out with, until she finally gets her attention. After her efforts they become inseparable, using guilt and lies about Evies broken life at home in order for her to stay. It sounds a little vomit-educing - two misunderstood best friends forever! But as the film progresses you get to really see how destructive the two girls become. Their lives become a nightmare so quickly.

Thirteen begins with a close up of Tracy being punched in the face... and laughing, because her and Evie have been inhaling aerosols for fun. I think it was vital to shock the audience before we see a younger, more innocent Tracy as I know I would be immediately put off if the film started with two best friends in high school. It made me want to find out how she became so destructive.

There wasn't any real reason for her to become so rebellious, or at least nothing I couldn’t relate to. No deaths in the family or no real trauma. Just a relatively normal life and a mum and brother who cared. Her parents were divorced and her mum and new boyfriend (who Tracy did not take a shine to) both had trouble with drugs in the past. She was thirteen and felt like she was being ignored. I guess everyone feels like that, and everyone deals with it in different ways. This was just her way.

Tracy's ultimate low-point is when she discovers Evie has betrayed her. All the time they have been best friends she has been hiding drugs around her room. It is so disappointing to realise how evil Evie really was by just using Tracy. I hoped all the way through the film that they would both get over their troubles (and grow up!) but to find out their friendship wasn’t genuine was really painful to watch.

I wasn't expecting to cry at Thirteen, but I defiantly cried more than I ever have at any film. At the end, when Tracy has been blamed for having drugs and destroying Evie, her mum tries to comfort her, but every time she does Tracy just rejects her. Eventually, her mum gets through to her. There’s a lot of hugging and crying (mostly coming from me..) and it was a really powerful ending to the film. I think the reason why I was so moved is because that’s what my mum would do if I ever felt a bit lost. I pretty much called her as soon as it ended.

I was also interested to hear that it was co-written by Catherine Hardwicke who is the director of both Thirteen and Twilight, and Nikki Reed who plays Evie amazingly at just 15. Nikki wrote this about her own life experience, making the film feel more truthful and an honest description of teenage life, not just an adults perception of young girls.