‘Eighth Grade’ Review
Amidst the chaos of comic con, Bo Burnham and A24 released a delightful little coming-of-age film.
Thirteen-year-old Kayla is about to endure a tidal wave of emotions as she makes her way through her last week of middle school. But before she graduates, she reflects upon how disastrous her eighth-grade year has been. This makes Kayla’s last week of school crucial because she is barely starting to form her own identity.
Identity is clearly an important theme in Eighth Grade’s narrative, but it also shines through in Bo Burnham’s directorial style. Burnham’s vision and creativity gives Eighth Grade a unique identity of it’s own. Most high-school coming-of-age movies try to replicate the feeling of a John Hughes film. Which is fine, since Spider-Man: Homecoming and Love, Simon are two excellent recent examples. But this just means we haven’t had a film that represents the generation of kids that had Snapchat before 5th grade. Eighth Grade is that movie.
There’s no doubt that Burnham’s online sensibilities aided in creating his style, but that style never detracts from Eighth Grade’s poignant story. Eighth Grade is very much a grown and mature film about contemporary suburban adolescence. In an era where most online users appear to be loud, noisy, and attention seeking, Burnham used those concepts to explore how online platforms and social media can effect a young person’s psyche. Which is why I’m so glad Eighth Grade didn’t end up on a platform like YouTube Red (no offense to Cobra Kai). This is a movie that just deserved its theatrical distribution.
Burnham’s script is also masterfully written. Eighth Grade could have been a simple and otherwise straightforward movie, but Burnham does not shy away from tackling real world issues. It’s unfortunate that girls, even as young as Kayla, do get taken advantage of. And Burnham isn’t afraid to show us that reality. One scene in particular felt incredibly uncomfortable but also eerily real.
A lot about Eighth Grade actually feels real. The dialogue is especially great. People talk awkwardly to each other, they hesitate, they mumble, they stutter, and they make odd noises, just like normal people would in real life. It’s refreshing to have a movie that’s pretty much void of any expository dialogue. It is also extraordinarily refreshing to have a coming-of-age film that doesn’t end on a big date, or a big dance, or a big party. Eighth Grade ends on an awkward dinner night with a mundane and unexciting conversation. It’s fantastic.
With all of the thematic elements at play. Eighth Grade probably wouldn’t have been as memorable if weren’t for Elsie Fisher’s wonderful performance as Kayla. The entire cast is filled with essentially unknown actors, but Fisher leads the film like a true star. A24 just knows how to distribute incredibly well casted films; Brooklynn Prince delivered one of my favorite performances last year in The Florida Project, and Elsie Fisher’s performance may be one of favorites of this year so far.
Fisher is best known for voicing the role of Agnes in Despicable Me. And though it’s cute to hear her scream “It’s so fluffy!” in the animated movies, she definitely gets to showcase more of her range in Eighth Grade. There’s an especially cathartic moment near the end of the film where Kayla opens up to her father, and Fisher’s delivery of the scene is phenomenal. Fisher allows Kayla to be an incredibly sweet and tender, yet vulnerable character. Kayla is struggling to accept herself for who she really is, which makes her character (and Fisher’s performance) empathetic and relatable.
Whether you know Bo Burnham from his comedy or his music, Eighth Grade exceeds any expectations you may have of him as an artist. Though his musical talents and comedic timing are ever present throughout the film – especially whenever Kayla experiences anxiety around boys – Eighth Grade just has so much more to offer. This is a delightful, heartfelt, and nostalgic movie with a lot to say about growing up in the digital era.
Gucci!
