Review: Eighth Grade is unique, awkward, moving, and unmissable
Bo Burnham’s film is funny and heartfelt, and one of the best teen movies ever made…
★★★★★
An introverted teenage girl tries to survive the last week of her disastrous eighth grade year before leaving to start high school. (IMDb)
Eighth Grade is a movie that will stand the test of time. Much like the time capsules that feature in its story, it’s a film that captures a moment in time and will continue to have relevance and importance beyond it. As heartbreaking as it is heartwarming, this is a unique and special piece of storytelling that displays warmth, empathy, a keen eye for detail, and a rich understanding of what it’s like to be growing up in the world today. I’m not exaggerating when I say that this is one of the very best teen movies ever made, and that it taps into something distinctive and powerful with its narrative. The story of 13-year-old Kayla Day (Elsie Fisher) getting through her final week of middle school and getting ready to start high school isn’t necessarily shocking or unusual but it’s moving and essential precisely because of how naturalistic it feels, how well it observes the mundanity of existence, and how quietly emotional and smart it is.
That this film, which was released last year in the US, wasn’t nominated for more awards than it was is shocking. Now that I’ve seen it, I feel like this should’ve been front-and-centre at the Oscars, as it’s just as much of a confident and assured work as something like Boyhood is, although with a different kind of focus and story. Another similar film that jumps to mind is Kelly Fremon Craig’s The Edge of Seventeen, which feels detailed and honest in the way that this film does. Eighth Grade really is just so impressive, though, and one of its greatest strengths as that it feels distinct and different compared to so many films we’ve seen in the past. Here in the UK, Eighth Grade will be coming out on 26 April, the day after the release of Avengers: Endgame. That’s one reason why I’m glad to have seen it early and to put this review up early. It’s going to be tough for it to be a big hit in this country, but it’s a film that deserves to be seen by as many people as possible.
This is an authentic and emotional story about growing up
Eighth Grade isn’t a movie about how Kayla is on a journey to becoming someone to take more seriously. She’s a person we should be taking seriously right now, and the issues she faces are important. There are a lot of teen movies that feel like they’re about that journey to becoming the grown-up version of yourself, but what sets this apart is that it really wants the audience to understand the challenges the kids nowadays are facing. Young people experience the entire world through the prism of social media and technology, and this can amplify introspection and self-consciousness, and it can make people feel lonely, frightened, and distant. There’s a lot about this narrative that just feels a lot more “real” than so many other teen movies we’ve seen. It’s not looking at how kids use social media or how they talk to each other and using that to comment on the “state of the world”, or poke fun, or teach us lessons about growing up. It’s simply showing life as it is and asking the audience to empathise and understand.
What’s also so impressive about this film is that Bo Burnham hadn’t directed or written a feature film before Eighth Grade! Sure, he’s a popular YouTube comedian, but this is his debut film. Many people have been shocked by just how capably the 28-year-old’s film gets inside the heads of not only teenagers, but teenage girls, and I think this is an example of detailed research, listening carefully to the kids he spoke with, and doing his best to relate to and understand their perspectives. A lot of what we see in Eighth Grade feels universal and relatable, and that especially comes through in much of the humour and awkwardness that’s certain to take you back to memories of your childhood. Eighth Grade is a really funny movie, and its humour comes from empathy that I’ve already mentioned is so evident in the film. It observes what it’s like to be thirteen, and find the comedy in that as much as it finds the darker moments and the joyous ones.
It feels like a movie that understands being a teenager nowadays
One aspect of life as a teenager that this film really seems to understand is just how big of a role technology and smartphones play in the lives of young people today. It takes care to present a complex look at the relationship that teens have with the internet and how it affects the way that they relate to each other. Burnham resists the urge to portray the internet as a terrible thing that has a harming and distracting influence on the lives of kids. He keeps to just showing it as it is and telling us that this is how many people now live. For Kayla, the internet is her means of connection with friends, a place where she learns, and also where she presents herself to the world. Eighth Grade is a smart enough film to show us that there are positives and negatives to this experience. It’s especially interested in how this technology turns us into creators and storytellers, and it explores this both through Kayla’s introspective YouTube channel and her idealised and filtered Instagram posts. Kayla clearly wants to “be confident” and “be herself”, but these things are easier said than done.
Technology is also the cause of much anxiety and stress for the protagonist, and the film does a good job when it comes to exploring the complicated and challenging mental health issues that a lot of people face today. We see how Kayla relies on her dad (Josh Hamilton) and values him, but isn’t yet open enough to really talk to him about some of the things she’s feeling and struggling with. Her shyness is one of her defining characters traits, and definitely a relatable aspect of her personality. We see that she’s confused and angsty, but it’s the way she worries that feels like a real and observed emotion. Kayla is constantly concerned about not fitting in or being a disappointment in some way. The way she often mumbles and deflects feels like accurate behaviour, and she’s going through a lot of realistic challenges throughout the film. Kayla’s dreaming of the person she wishes she’d become, and she’s going to have to learn the value of who she already is.
Elsie Fisher is OUTSTANDING
I really can’t state this enough, but performances like Elsie Fisher’s in Eighth Grade are so, so, so rare. She’s incredible, and wholly becomes the character in the film so much that you can hardly tell she’s acting. It just feels real, with all the awkwardness and all the “ers”, “likes”, and “ums” that are just a big part of how people, and especially young people, really talk. This stuff hasn’t been improvised, it’s all the result of a well-written script and an incredibly capable lead actor. Burnham has said that she stood out during the audition process because “every other kid felt like a confident kid pretending to be shy, and she was the only one who played it like a shy kid pretending to be confident”. You can tell her portrayal of Kayla is informed by some of her own life experiences, and Fisher filmed this movie just after finishing her own eighth grade. “Kayla’s experience is not actually autobiographical for me, but emotionally it is,” she’s said.
She also helped Burnham keep the script relevant and timely, and he’s credited her with changing the apps used in the film. Her advice inspired a line about how Facebook is less relevant for today’s teens, and that insight kept the messaging in the film on either Instagram or Snapchat (and not on Facebook as it was in the original script). It’s a little thing, but details like this make the overall film feel more relevant and more nuanced. The portrayal of Kayla’s dad from Josh Hamilton is also worth recognising, as it’s getting both her perspective and his that helps add complexity to the story. He’s a single father who isn’t defined by being a single father. You can tell how much he loves his daughter and how in awe of her he is, and there’s a particular fireside scene that the two of them share in the movie that is powerful and moving.
Verdict
It’s essential. Eighth Grade is a funny, moving, awkward, smart and empathetic film. It tackles social media, anxiety, and growing up with insight and nuance.
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