FULL SYNOPSIS

Thirteen is an unflinching look at the life of a young girl coming of age in Los Angeles. Tracy's life is typical of many modern teenage girls. She lives with her single mother, Melanie, and her 14-year old skater brother, Mason. Melanie has her hands full with two teenagers, a boyfriend recently out of drug rehab, an ex-husband who's not of any help.

Heading into her first day of middle school, Tracy believes that her old friends, a quick mind and her burgeoning poetic abilities are enough to make her happy. She soon discovers that success in middle school is not a race for academic achievement, but a sprint to see which kids can become adults the fastest.

Tracy is attracted to her new school's "hotties," led by the popular and seductive Evie Sykes. These sexy teenage girls show up for school dressed like hot young J.Lo's, carrying handbags instead of bookbags, and its not long before Evie's popularity begins to entice Tracy.

With the same enthusiasm that she once held for her schoolwork and longtime girlfriends, Tracy sets out to win Evie's acceptance. With alarming quickness, Tracy transforms herself into a sex kitten who can match her newfound friends in reckless acts of daring and attitude. Playing "Louise" to Evie's "Thelma," the two new best friends embark on wild misadventures in shoplifting, sexual experiences, and drugs.

When her flirtation with the adult world begins to take its toll, Tracy's unraveling begins to affect everything she once held dear, including her schoolwork and her relationships with her family and childhood friends. Her mother Melanie is surprised, then shocked, then angry when Tracy becomes increasingly hostile and hurtful towards her. Melanie finally realizes that Evie is the root cause of Tracy's disturbing transformation, and in a confrontation with Evie and her mother, Melanie becomes uncharacteristically forceful as she begins to repair the damage done to her daughter. Melanie is forced into a role reversal: she must become the strong parent to her needy daughter.

Thirteen is both beguiling and painful in its truthful depiction of an early loss of innocence. Thirteen incisively highlights the painful realities of adolescence. It is an uncompromising examination of young people's preoccupation with image and celebrity and their compulsion to grow up fast.

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