The Fear of 13 (2015)

IMDb plot summary: A convicted murderer who has spent 23 years on Death Row tells his story.
Directed by David Sington.

I think this might be the only documentary given to me for my movie challenge this time around! I have mixed feelings about it. While there's no denying Yarris has a gift for storytelling, I wish there was a little bit more to the movie than just him narrating his own life. I think the narrative would benefit a bit from some outside commentary. This narrows the focus in a way that I'm not sure does full justice to the story -- it made me doubt him more than anything, despite the pre-movie disclaimer that his stories had been independently verified. I'm also unsure how the title ties in. It's a brief throwaway line that doesn't really connect thematically in any way I can see. Overall, it's an interesting story, I'm just not sure that film is the most interesting way to tell it.

3 stars.

How it entered my Flickchart:
The Fear of 13 > The Switch
The Fear of 13 < Waitress
The Fear of 13 < The Slipper and the Rose
The Fear of 13 > Bill Cunningham New York
The Fear of 13 < Lucky Number Slevin
The Fear of 13 < Videodrome
The Fear of 13 < Sleepers
The Fear of 13 > Spider-Man 2
The Fear of 13 > Legend
The Fear of 13 > The Kids Are All Right
The Fear of 13 > Man on Fire

Final spot: #1240 out of 2885.