For the week of August 24 through August 30, 13 Minutes ranked seventh among Netflix’s English-language movies worldwide, recording 3.4 million views and 6.1 million hours watched. Netflix’s official weekly rankings place the film alongside much bigger and newer titles, including The Whisper Man, Don’t Say Good Luck, 72 HOURS, and Grand Theft Auto VI: An Extended Look.
The performance gives 13 Minutes a notable resurgence several years after its original theatrical release.
A Tornado Gives Four Families Just 13 Minutes to Survive
Directed and co-written by Lindsay Gossling, 13 Minutes takes place in the fictional small town of Minninnewah, Oklahoma. The story centers on four families whose lives collide when a massive tornado bears down on the community.
Residents have only 13 minutes to reach shelter before the storm strikes. Once the tornado tears through the town, the immediate struggle for survival gives way to another challenge: finding missing loved ones and trying to rebuild what remains.
The film also places considerable emphasis on the divisions within the community. The four families come from very different backgrounds and must confront disagreements involving religion, sexuality and other social issues as they work together in the aftermath of the disaster.
That combination of disaster spectacle and interpersonal drama gives the movie a different focus from a conventional tornado thriller. The storm provides the central threat, but much of the story is concerned with how people who disagree with one another respond when their entire community is suddenly in danger. Netflix similarly describes the film as a disaster drama in which families work together after learning that a major tornado will strike in 13 minutes.
The film runs for 1 hour and 48 minutes and was released in 2021.
Peter Facinelli Leads an Ensemble Cast
Facinelli stars in the film alongside country music performer Trace Adkins, Thora Birch, Anne Heche, Amy Smart and Paz Vega.
The cast includes Facinelli as Brad, Birch as Jess, Adkins as Rick, Smart as Kim, Heche as Tammy and Vega as Ana. Sofia Vassilieva, Laura Spencer, Will Peltz, Shaylee Mansfield and Davi Santos are also part of the ensemble.
Gossling directed the movie and also served as a writer and producer. Travis Farncombe was another producer and co-writer, while Karen Harnisch served as a producer.
Despite the recognizable cast, 13 Minutes had a modest theatrical run. Its worldwide box office total was $67,413, according to available box-office records.
Its reception was similarly divided. Rotten Tomatoes currently lists a 24% critics’ score and a 57% audience score, reflecting the gap between the film’s reception among professional critics and viewers.
Some of the more favorable reactions have focused on the film’s character-driven approach and its attempt to explore the relationships and divisions within a small community rather than relying entirely on disaster spectacle. Other reviews have been more critical of its storytelling and execution.
13 Minutes Joins a Crowded Netflix Top 10
The film’s Netflix performance becomes even more striking when viewed alongside the other movies that dominated the chart during the same week.
Grand Theft Auto VI: An Extended Look claimed the No. 1 position with 31.1 million views, while The Whisper Man, the Netflix thriller starring Adam Scott and Robert De Niro, followed with 23.2 million views. The Last House ranked third with 5.8 million views, followed by Don’t Say Good Luck with 4.4 million.
The complete Top 10 for the week also included The Heat, 72 HOURS, KPop Demon Hunters, Shrek and 2012.
Interestingly, 13 Minutes was not the only disaster movie to make the list. Roland Emmerich’s 2009 film 2012 landed at No. 10 with 2.7 million views and 7 million hours watched.
While 13 Minutes confines its disaster to a small Oklahoma community, 2012 operates on a vastly larger scale, depicting a worldwide catastrophe and the possible end of civilization. The film stars John Cusack and Chiwetel Ejiofor and draws on the 2012 phenomenon that led some people to believe the world would end that year.
The two movies therefore offer very different takes on disaster storytelling, yet both managed to attract enough Netflix viewers during the same week to break into the global Top 10.
For 13 Minutes, the Netflix resurgence provides a second opportunity to reach an audience that may have missed the film during its limited theatrical release. The movie is now featured in Netflix’s catalog, although availability can vary by country.