The 13 Minutes movie poster and the theatrical trailer promise a supercell tornado ready to cross a Heartland town. What I will say for this dramatic thriller about all things “weather event” is the actual tornado, once it lands is done really well. The aftermath of the tornado’s destruction looks great. But the rest of the film beats you over the head with so many topical character types, that I didn’t know whether to be impressed or laugh. I think I did both.
When I think of natural disaster movies, I think of the films Twister, Into the Storm, Tunnelen, and The Day After Tomorrow. Great disaster movies with thrilling action and death-defying brutal storms. They’re all films that feature heroism in the face of danger. The brutality of nature combined with the good and bad sides of humanity. Light and shade in mostly equal proportions.
Thirteen Minutes 2021 is watchable because you and everyone else are simply waiting for the main event. Each character plays out like a who’s who, in the, “what’s wrong with the world” zoo. The complex themes circulating from abortion, pro-lifers, homophobia, immigration, and the medical systems of the USA flood in more than any water-damaged tornado zone could hold. 13 Minutes feels like a video you could watch in schools and then afterward host a pop quiz that asks students to name as many political issues as they could from the film.
Anne Heche is Among the Cast of the 13 Minutes Movie
What’s more, Anne Heche is in it. But before you get excited about Heche appearing in the opening scenes. Before you build anticipation for the rest of the film, she’s a pro-lifer with homophobia. A young girl, Jess discovers she is pregnant with a philandering impregnator of women and heads off to the local clinic to look into her options. Heche appears and gives her an ultrasound before telling her she should get married and think about how great babies are. The adulterous impregnator keeps trying to give the young girl a sparkly heart to maintain her interest in the abortion he’d like her to have but alas, the young girl keeps throwing it away.
In other dramatic scenes, a husband and wife is storm-chasing, as well as, a newsreader duo. They have a daughter that’s deaf. They spend a lot of time ensuring the small girl knows the drill should a weather event warning ever be issued.
She seems to know the routine fairly well but unfortunately for Peyton, a boy at school knocks into her, and her hearing aid is broken which subsequently also switches her brain off later when the storm heads into town. Peyton is literally sitting in front of the television watching her dad talk about the impending supercell. Instead of warning her babysitter who just happens to be the pregnant girl, Jess, she wanders outside and stares the storm down.
When in Doubt, Smite them Down
I could spend so much time talking about the semantics of the interpersonal relationships of the character arcs in 13 Minutes. But glossing over just these will give you a good indication of what’s in store. I was hoping to find some solace in the tornado smiting all the bigots from the playing field but sadly, it’s not that kind of movie. In fact, not only do they all live but they are also allowed to kick the people they’ve been kicking one last time before the closing credits.
13 Minutes movie is rated
1 “The purpose of a man and a woman is to get married and have babies” out of 5
Ready for another disaster movie like 13 Minutes? Watch Tunnellen (The Tunnel) / Firenado or Supercell next.
“13 Minutes Full Movie” Trailer
Written by Travis Farncombe (story) and Lindsay Gossling (screenplay.)
Directed by: Lindsay Gossling
Cast for 13 Minutes includes:
- Amy Smart
- Thora Birch
- Paz Vega
- Anne Heche
- Sofia Vassilieva
Where to Watch 13 Minutes
The Thirteen Minutes film is available in some of the UK on the streaming platform Virgin TV Go and as a rental in most other regions.
13 Minutes Movie Where To Watch:
