A THRILLER IN NEED OF POLISH.

KARACHI -- How far will you go to in search of someone who is killing people brutally? What will be your strategy when the killer constantly throws you curveballs at you? Knowing the loopholes of the judicial system in Pakistan, how will you answer the killer's sarcasm when he belittles your police force and keeps reminding senior officers what their real duties are? What is the motive of the serial killer and why he is after thirteen names on his hit-list? Find this out and a little more in the newly released Pakistani film 13.

In the past few years, audience has gained great interest in films and shows that revolve around psychological thrillers and serial killings. In Pakistan, filmmakers don't often make films on topics other than comedy, family drama and romance. This time Nabeel Ur Rehman took a bold step and ventured into a zone that no one has explored yet in Pakistan. The film 13 is a thriller based on serial killing. It is written and directed by Nabeel Ur Rehman and features Saleem Mairaj, Adnan Shah Tipu, Ifrah Nabeel and Taqi Ahmed in pivotal roles.

The movie opens on a chilling note with a group of ominous-looking men callously discarding the lifeless body of a young schoolgirl in a desolate area. This stark and unsettling scene implies a horrific act, most likely a gang rape, followed by abandonment to meet a gruesome fate. Several months later, the police discover a series of bodies, gruesomely dismembered and concealed in bags. However, the investigation led by officers Taqi Ahmed and Wahaj Ali Khan unfolds much like the typical narrative within Pakistan's flawed law enforcement system - rushed, unconvincing, and marred by undue pressure, often resulting in cases being closed prematurely. Since the case received massive media hype, the police tried to quickly find the real killer so that they could shine in front of the media, as to how capable they are to solve such a case within no time.

When the killer watches Taqi Ahmed taking the credit of finding the killer, he kills other people and through the same media house receives information that the serial killer is out and he pressurises the police department to perform its duty. That is when Saleem Mairaj, the best officer of the department comes into the picture and he is assigned the serial killer's case. With Mairaj comes Ifrah Nabeel, who assists him along with Taqi and Wahaj Ali. Audience witnesses a tussle between a senior and junior police officer, Mairaj and Ahmed...