Eighth Grade premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival with director Bo Burnham as frontman. Starring Elsie Fisher, Josh Hamilton, Emily Robinson, and Jake Ryan, the movie depicts the realistic world of the eighth grade and what it takes to fit in school and survive while dealing with anxiety.
There is nothing like middle school, a place you must visit 5 days a week. An institute full of rules and hierarchy, where you have the popular, the outgoers, the nerds, and the introverts. Whichever group you belong to, at least you have the same clique to survive. However, that is not the case for Kayla Day (played by Elsie Fisher).
She doesn’t belong to any society, she is the outcast of the academy. Despite all this, her shyness fades away once she turns on the camera. Kayla has a YouTube channel where she gives personal advice on how to be confident, overcome fear, and put yourself out there. However, she doesn’t practice what she preaches.
Nevertheless, she wants to fit in, especially with the prominent ones and her crush. At home, she spends most of the time on her phone, eagerly hoping for somebody to talk to. And she does achieve this, with Mark (Hamilton), her father. Yet, she rejects him.
One day, at a pool party, she hides in the corner, where she meets Gabe (Ryan). Furthermore, an activity of the school is to pair the eighth graders with high schoolers for them to have a sneak peek of what awaits next. This is where Kayla meets Olivia (Robinson).
Olivia is keen to give her a full tour of the facilities, have lunch together and even exchange numbers. Hence, one day she invites Kayla to the mall, where she introduces them to her and her friends. At the end of the night, Olivia’s friend tries to hook up with her and she loses it.
Kayla finally comprehends that she has been trying to please everyone else just to get accepted into one group. And she is no longer seeking validation from others and wants to hang out with real friends. Hence, she accepts a dinner invitation from Gabe.
Most importantly, she comprehends that the love of her father is Gucci enough, and she accepts it. In fact, she is ready for her next step and will face it with confidence, which is high school.
Admittedly, what I like about the movie is how realistic it is. There is no sugarcoating and it portrays a real-life experience of what teenagers deal with nowadays. Worth mentioning is that Elsie had just finished the eighth grade while shooting the film.
To conclude, Eighth Grade is the directional debut for Bo Burnham, who gave an amazing performance in “Promising Young Woman.” He perfectly characterizes what it is to thrive through and survive middle school. The movie won “Audience Favorite” at the Sundance Festival in London.
Good luck to all the students going back to school after 2024’s summer holidays.
Check out Mr. Burnham’s talk about the “Eighth Grade” movie below.
- “Eighth Grade” movie. Directed by Bo Burnham (A24, 2018). ↩︎
