A true hybrid, Thirteen blends fiction and documentary to get at the heart of an adolescent 13-year-old girl in Virginia who suffers a crisis, withdraws, and stops speaking until she realizes that she wants to buy a car. In her attempts to earn money, she affects the lives of those around her in remarkable ways. Williams aims to bring out certain truths by creating an atmosphere in which he spends months with untrained and professional actors on improvising the “narrative” until it is achingly close to the essence of ordinary lives. Poetic, subtle, carefully studied yet seemingly totally spontaneous, the film seems to be letting the viewer in on its secrets.