Eighth Grade (2018)

Directed by: Bo Burnham | 93 minutes | comedy, drama | Actors: Elsie Fisher, Josh Hamilton, Emily Robinson, Jake Ryan, Daniel Zolghadri, Fred Hechinger, Imani Lewis, Luke Prael, Catherine Oliviere, NOra Mullins, Gerald W. Jones, Missy Yager, Shacha Temirov, Greg Crowe

Kayla Day doesn’t have it easy. As an introverted, socially inept teenager, she is an outsider in her class, while she really wants to be fun and cool. So what is this bumbling, quiet and deadly shy girl doing? She starts a self-help channel on Youtube to teach peers how to overcome your fears and become a cool chick. She does not realize that the person she encourages is herself and that her well-intentioned lessons can hardly be put into practice.

In the great American comedy-drama ‘Eight Grade’ we follow this Kayla in her last week of Middle School (an American school form between primary and secondary education). We see how she ends up as an oddball at a pool party, how she slams her cymbals heavily as a member of the school orchestra and how she vents her frustrations on one of the few who tries to understand her: her single father. What we mainly see is how hard Kayla tries her best and how she always seems to succumb to her boundless nervousness and uncontrollable emotions.

‘Eight Grade’ is a movie that dwells in tone in the pleasant area between Hollywood and arthouse. We see elements that we know from the Hollywood teen movie – especially the humor – but in terms of emotional impact it all goes much further. Kayla is a character that touches you deeply. It’s a 13-year-old who works hard, always maintaining a childlike kind of integrity and dignity. She wants to be popular, but never at the expense of others and just because of who she is.

We owe that this film touches you so much to the clever and credible script, the sublime acting of Elsie Fisher and the uncompromising approach of the makers. The lonely teenager’s anxieties and pains are served up raw and disconsolate, bringing it to the viewer and making the moments of connection (such as during a campfire conversation between Kayla and her father) to cry so beautiful.

‘Eight Grade’ is less heavy than you might expect. There’s fun humor, playful bursts of music, satirical commentary on self-help vloggers and unexpected moments of friendship and fun. They bring balance to a film that is simultaneously amusing, thought-provoking and deeply moving. With an honesty and emotional power that we haven’t seen since ‘Fucking Åmål’ (1998).