‘Attack 13’ (2025) Netflix Movie Review - A Ghostly Comeback that Thrills More than it Chills

Okay, so I watched Attack 13 (2025) on Netflix, and I have to say: this film is the kind of wild mix of teen-sports drama and supernatural horror that dared me to both root and recoil at the same time. On one hand, it’s slick, unsettling, and surprisingly smart for a “ghost in a school” thriller. On the other hand, there are moments where I felt the logic loosen up, and some character beats didn’t land quite as strongly as I hoped. But I had fun. Enough fun that I think the creative risks are worth talking about.

Let’s start with what works. The movie opens with Jin arriving at the school and making waves in the girls’ volleyball team. Right away, we sense the high-stakes environment: Bussaba, the team captain, is a menace; she bullies her teammates, uses power for sport and social clout, and creates a toxic environment that’s as much emotional as it is athletic. That part of the set-up is crisp and well-observed. The dynamic is tense and feels lived-in: the peer pressure, the ritual of training, the hierarchy of a popular high school team in Thailand. It grounds the supernatural in a recognisable teenage world, which helps the horror land more effectively.

When Bussaba ends up dead, found hanging in the gym, which kicks off chaos among the remaining players, the film doesn’t pause to breathe before letting the horror creep in. Her death (and what preceded it) sets off a chain reaction of guilt, suspicion, and fear, and Jin finds herself thrown into the middle of it. The mid-section of the film, where the ghostly Bussaba starts showing up, wields its scares fairly well: there are good moments of tension, eerie visuals, and the film leans into the isolating feeling of being watched, judged, and haunted. The cinematography deserves mention: the gym, the locker rooms, the hallways—they all feel a bit off, and the lighting/drone shots bump up the unease. For a teen horror film, it has production values that punch above its weight.

Also worth celebrating: the performances. Jin’s character (played by Korranid Laosubinprasoet) holds together the story nicely. She’s vulnerable, determined, and not the cookie-cutter new girl you’ve seen a hundred times. Bussaba’s bully-turned-ghost (Ladapa Thongkham) is sufficiently nasty in the early scenes so that when the horror kicks in, you feel a kind of twisted satisfaction. The supporting cast of teammates each carries a weight of secrets, complicity, fear, and rivalry, which gives the film some textured character work rather than just “ghost jumps, scream, done.”

Another strong aspect: the blend of sport and supernatural. The volleyball sequences aren’t window-dressing; they matter. The rhythm of the game, the camaraderie and competition, the physical exertion—these become part of the film’s language of tension. I appreciated that director Taweewat Wantha didn’t treat the sport as a quirky add-on but wove it into the ghost story: the pressure of performance, the wounds of bullying, the team making/breaking, and then the ghost turning that internal dynamic inside-out.

Now, drifting into what didn’t quite land for me, and I say this as someone who generally enjoyed the film. First, the supernatural logic sometimes gets fuzzy. Once Bussaba’s ghost element kicks in, there are moments where the “rules” of the haunting (who she appears to, when, how physical the interaction is) feel inconsistent. Horror tension thrives when you sense the rules, even if you don’t fully see them. Here, there were times I found myself thinking “okay, how exactly is this ghost empowered?” or “why is she doing this right now?” It didn’t derail things, but it pulled me out of immersion just a little.

Second, pacing. The first half builds nicely (Jin arrives, Bussaba’s bullying soars, death happens). But after the midpoint, when the hauntings intensify, the film rushes through some emotional arcs: the characters who should have deeper internal transformations feel a bit shorthand. Some of the teammates who seemed set up for transformation (or confession) get only a cursory moment before the final horror climax. The climax itself is satisfying—scares, resolution, some clever twists, but I wish the film had slowed down a tad near the end to let emotional closure breathe. Instead, it opts for a rapid sprint to the finish, which works for the adrenaline but less so for lasting impact.

Third, character empathy. Jin, we root for. Bussaba, we loathe (especially as a bully). But some of the other characters, victims of Bussaba, and the ones complicit, feel underwritten. Their motivations, their fear, and their reasoning for staying silent (or acting) could use more depth. Because if the ghost story is going to be anchored in the psychology of bullying and revenge (and I think it is trying to be), then we want to feel the full human cost, not just the jump scares. The film gestures at this (it’s clearly about youth violence, peer pressure, power) and I like that ambition, but sometimes the reach exceeds the grasp.

That said, the tone of the film is one of its more delightful surprises. There’s a certain cheek in it: it knows it's playing in the teen horror space, it uses the tropes new girl, mean team captain, dark secret, gym, death, but it does so with enough style and energy that it doesn’t feel like mere copy-pasting. The horror becomes a kind of social commentary: how bullying creates fractures, how silence is complicity, how competition can mask cruelty. I appreciated that dimension; it elevates the film a little above generic “ghost in the locker room” fare.

Also worth tipping the hat: the way the film uses scare-set pieces is clever. The gym at night, the empty bleachers, the footprints in dust, a volleyball net subtly swinging in a corridor, all of these bits are cinematic and evocative. The sound design (the echoing sneakers, the thwack of balls, the whispering voices) boosts the tension. It shows that the filmmakers had fun making something that looks good and feels tense, rather than just ticking off jump scares.

In terms of style, the film reminds me of the best of teen horror when it takes itself seriously but doesn’t take itself too seriously. There are moments of levity, Jin’s awkwardness at being the new girl, the banter with teammates, and even some of the pre-haunting team camaraderie. Those moments make the horror parts hit harder because you care. Some scenes had me genuinely uneasy; others, I smiled and shook my head at the audacity of it all. That balancing act is tricky, and Attack 13 mostly pulls it off.

One more point to highlight: cultural specificity. Set in Thailand, part of the charm is how the film uses the setting without exoticising it. The high school is recognisable, the girls’ world is universal, but there are touches in the ambiance, the social rituals, the atmosphere that feel grounded in Thai youth. That gives it freshness. Horror tends to look the same everywhere; here, I felt we got a distinct flavor.

So my overall feeling is: I’d recommend Attack 13 to anyone who enjoys horror with a bit of heart, teen-drama stakes, and a ghost who means business. It’s not flawless—some structural weaknesses and character gaps hold it back from being excellent. But it brings enough boldness, style, and thematic bite that you’ll find yourself talking about it after the credits roll (or at least staying in the school gym a little longer than you’d planned). If you go in expecting a polished masterpiece, you might be disappointed, but if you go in open to a spirited genre blend, you’ll be in for a ride that both thrills and provokes. In short: it haunts, it hustles, and it has enough on its mind to matter.

Final Score- [6/10]
Reviewed by - Anjali Sharma
Follow @AnjaliS54769166 on Twitter
Publisher at Midgard Times