13 Reasons Why
Netflix | Release Date: March 31, 2017
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
60
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 38 Critic Reviews
Positive:
18
Mixed:
12
Negative:
8

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
SalonMelanie McFarlandMar 31, 2017
Season 1 Review: Langford and Minnette are the magnetic core of this drama. Separately and together, they have a dynamic chemistry that glows when they share the screen and energizes their scenes with others. Read full review
90
Boston GlobeMatthew GilbertMar 29, 2017
Season 1 Review: The drama is sensitive, surprising, consistently engaging, and, most important, unblinking. Read full review
90
UPROXXAlan SepinwallMar 23, 2017
Season 1 Review: It’s a tough story. An honest story. And a story that beautifully connects its Baker’s dozen of tales and characters with each other, and the audience, even though there are some bumps and missteps along the way. Read full review
90
VarietyMaureen RyanMar 21, 2017
Season 1 Review: The lows are low, but the highs are very high, and truly affecting. Read full review
85
CNNBrian LowryMar 29, 2017
Season 1 Review: In a sense, 13 Reasons Why turns its audience into voyeuristic bystanders as well. Yet while Hannah's fate isn't pleasant, as presented in this enticing, slickly constructed package, it's hard to look away. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyKristen BaldwinMay 16, 2018
Season 2 Review: The writers accurately capture the center-of-my-own-universe angst of the teen mind, and this season’s mystery delivers on twists and OMFG moments. 13 Reasons Why finishes season 2 as a show you don’t so much enjoy as endure and appreciate later--much like adolescence itself. Read full review
83
IndieWireLiz Shannon MillerMar 31, 2017
Season 1 Review: 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. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyLeah GreenblattMar 22, 2017
Season 1 Review: As much as it can be hobbled by archetypes and cliché, the series also smartly self-corrects, offering something rare in Millennial mass entertainment: A frank, authentically affecting portrait of what it feels like to be young, lost, and too fragile for the world. Read full review
80
The Daily BeastNick SchagerApr 21, 2017
Season 1 Review: Clay’s conduct sometimes borders on the insufferable. And while Hannah’s traumas are authentically dramatized, she’s forced to endure so many indignities that, in total, she occasionally comes across as a symbolic vessel for an important message, rather than a flesh-and-blood human being. Fortunately, Langford’s wounded-yet-bold lead performance is altogether charming, and Minnette is equally credible. Read full review
80
ColliderAubrey PageMar 30, 2017
Season 1 Review: For all the teen angst and buzzy butterfly stomachs,13 Reasons Why is an incredibly mature and a devastating look at the ripple effects of loss. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesLorraine AliMar 30, 2017
Season 1 Review: The talents of Minnette and newcomer Langford carry much of the story. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterDaniel FienbergMar 27, 2017
Season 1 Review: A steady 13-episode descent into grief and emotional confusion, 13 Reasons Why is an honorably mature piece of young-adult adaptation, fleshing out Jay Asher's well-regarded novel in a way that allows its cold-hearted high-school environment to breathe while revolving around tremendous lead turns by Dylan Minnette and particularly Australian newcomer Katherine Langford. Read full review
80
TV Guide MagazineMatt RoushMar 17, 2017
Season 1 Review: A compulsively gripping drama that could be thought of as My So-Called Suicide. [20 Mar - 2 Apr 2017, p.19]
75
IndieWireLiz Shannon MillerMay 16, 2018
Season 2 Review: 13 Reasons Why features no shortage of missteps. But it’s a show that so deeply feels for its characters, so deeply feels these scenarios, that it’s hard to be mad at it. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleDavid WiegandMar 29, 2017
Season 1 Review: For the record, both Minnette and Langford are so good, you almost forget they are too old to be playing high school sophomores. While the script may be overly contrived at times, it at least aims to make its points about teen suicide through drama and only occasionally resorting to speechifying. Read full review
70
VarietyKevin O'KeefeMay 16, 2018
Season 2 Review: The strengths--the diverse cast, intriguing mystery--remain the same, while the weaknesses--an exploitative edge, inconsistent characterization--have failed to resolve themselves. What is new and improved, however, is Dylan Minnette as Clay Jensen. ... Minnette stands above the pack. His is a tour-de-force performance that goes a long way to making 13 Reasons Why’s second season feel worth the drama. Read full review
70
TimeDaniel D'AddarioApr 3, 2017
Season 1 Review: This story is sure to be devoured by teens who respond to its dark themes. But it could use a bit more leavening, acknowledging the reasons why life can be something more than apocalyptic. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubAlex McLevyMar 31, 2017
Season 1 Review: There’s more than enough reasons to give this ambitious series a try, but maybe one too few to recommend without reservations. Read full review
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