A surefire way to tell if someone is a psychopath is as follows: ask them if they liked middle school. If they reply yes, they’re a psychopath. While not equally awful for everyone, middle school tends to be such a random assortment of hormones and pre-algebra tests that no one enjoys. It doesn’t have the freedom of high school or the care-free nature of elementary school. No film in recent memory has shown this turbulence better than Bo Burnham’s directorial debut, ‘Eighth Grade”.
Elsie Fisher, the unknown actress making her starring debut in the film as Kayla, is the film’s anchor. She is immediately adorable and lovable. She’s excellent, making it hard to believe this is her first starring film role. Her father, played by Josh Hamilton, is equally as good. They’re both sympathetic and wonderfully lovable, exuding a real life charm and realism seen only in the best performances.
While seen in a smaller role, Emily Robinson is also wonderfully charming as Kayla’s high school aged friend Olivia. She’s smiley and cheerful and the picturesque vision of what every middle schooler wants an older and wiser friend to be.
The supporting cast is strong as well, thanks to characters played by actors who’re actually their own age. This builds the film’s sense of realism and believability to the point where it almost feels like a documentary. Not once does the world writer/director Bo Burnham has created ever feel fake or pristine. It’s as happy and as ugly as it really is.
A synth soundtrack as well as a collection of modern songs help underscore a film that has technology as a clear focal point. Kayla makes Youtube videos, most kids have their phones on them at all times, and a cracked screen is used as a brilliant metaphor. But the film doesn’t glorify the technology, or the social media, like most teen focused films seem to. It also doesn’t demonize it like most mainstream family films do either.
“Eighth Grade” simply shows the use of this tech and social media like it really it, without making a commentary on it. Because it’s not concerned with shoving a message down you’re throat, it makes the entire film feel even more authentic. Sure, there are things you can glean from the film when its over, but not once does it ever feel like it’s the films focus.
Rather, Bo and his cast are simply concerned with telling an empathetic story, with empathetic characters and a world relatable to anyone. The ways in which you were affected by middle school and the methods may have changed, but everyone has memories of the shy kid, the cool guy, the mean girl, the weird kid, etc., etc. By drilling into that common feeling and deep-rooted anxiety related to middle school, Bo has created a film that can be almost universally understood.
He also frees himself from the shackles of linear narratives, thanks to using the storytelling technique utilized by last year’s “Lady Bird” in an equally expert way. Instead of a long stretched plot, “Eighth Grade” instead tells smaller stories that help to slowly explain the larger world and characters around them. It’s much closer to one long narrative than when “Lady Bird” utilized it, and it’s still just as remarkable.
There’s a reason that “Eighth Grade” hasn’t been marketed as a coming-of-age film. There isn’t a huge change or monumental shift in the paradigm of these characters by the end. It’s a smaller and more important realization within themselves. An embracing of who they really are in a way that never feels cheap.
Bo and Elise don’t just pluck at your heartstrings, they play a symphony with them. They dare you not to grip the edges of your seat with each groan inducing “Hello fellow teens” and sweat with anxiety every time Kayla is put in an uncomfortable situation. They don’t do this in a manipulative way however, because all they do is show what happened to all of us at one time or another.
“Eighth Grade” is pure joy and a monumental achievement. As a directorial debut, its flawless. As an examination of one of the most turbulent times of American adolescences, its even more so. Elise Fisher’s is a next level kind of brilliant and “Eighth Grade” is just incredible. 5/5
