Hannah is a young lady who takes her own life. Two weeks after her appalling death, a colleague named Clay finds a baffling box on his patio. Inside the case are chronicles made by Hannah.
In its examination of the ways we hurt each other, deliberately or casually, knowingly or otherwise, the adult edges to this story ring with honesty and truth. Because sometimes, the only way to feel something is for it to hurt.
Here, the process is well thought out with the original material masterfully intact while the addition of new exploratory elements serve only to enhance the narrative.
Perhaps it's the strength of the source material but the teen characters are fully fleshed-out people. They're not the archetypes you often box youngsters into - these guys are the Breakfast Club peeps at the end of the movie.
13 Reasons Why is so compelling that I gladly immersed myself in all 13 hours over a weekend. Much of that is a credit to the two leads, of whom much is asked, and even more is given.
13 Reasons Why, which follows the fallout after a student's suicide and then unravels the web that led her there, is an ambitious and uniquely sympathetic deep dive into the challenges of being in high school.