Salubfoto It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Sienna-Rose Mclaughlin The movie really just wants to entertain people.

Phillipa Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

gsmithersuf When I went into the theater to see this film, I had no idea I was about to re-experience a forgotten time when I was submerged in a world of fear and insecurity. Bo Burnham took a trip to my subconscious and came back with pages of material. While I never tried to offer people advice in YouTube videos as the main character does, I strongly relate to the character in the following ways:A fear of being labeled as quiet (anxious people just want to fit in). Highly agreeable to the point of ridiculousness.Writing out bullet points of how to improvesocially Attempting to say or do anything at parties while having crippling fearsWhile some of the feelings in the film are universal, it got all the specific fears of anxious kids down to a t. Something I have learned since the struggle of middle school is that some kids are genetically more sensitive than others, and this can translate to anxiety as a person gets older. If you have a child who notices and feels more than his or her peers like the girl in the film, research high sensitivity and see if they possibly have it. It can do wonders for self-esteem to reframe the past knowing they have a unique trait.

Turfseer Could Bo Burnham, comedian and long-time YouTube internet star, be the next Judd Apatow? With his first feature, Burnham has done his research into the minds and sensibilities of teenagers stuck in that awkward age just after the onset of puberty and before becoming more independent during the heady days of high school. Eighth Grade focuses on his young protagonist, Kayla Day, winningly played by Elsie Fisher, who has been in the acting business since she was five years old. Usually in these coming-of-age stories focusing on school, the protagonist is pitted against a tangible opponent (often a bully) and much of the plot revolves around the conflict between the two. But here Burnham eschews such familiar tropes and hones in on Kayla's internal arc, highlighted by her lack of self-esteem and a journey to assert herself in a world which relies on social media to establish one's social cred. Kayla is raised by a single parent father, Mark, who thinks the world of her but has difficulty communicating with his daughter as Kayla often feels embarrassed by his awkward entreaties. Instead she holes herself up in her room, creating motivational videos, which she posts on the internet but no one listens to. The videos are actually quite prescient and suggest she has a lot more on the ball than what her classmates give her credit for (she's voted "Most quiet" in an awards ceremony at school at the beginning of the film). Indeed it's Burnham's sharp observations about student life that lift this film way above the clichés of the genre. In addition to the offbeat awards ceremony just alluded to, there are a slew of neat, unexpected activities at the school we're introduced to. For example the students open up "time capsules" which they made on their first day at middle school. Now they watch their younger selves speaking to their older counterparts, wishing them good luck on their impending graduation and entrance into high school (at film's end, Kayla creates a new "time capsule," wishing her good luck on her next foray into college). More unusual and compelling stuff: students undergoing a drill, where a teacher is dressed up as a school mass killer and instructed how to react if such a deadly situation arises (a sorry commentary on the state of affairs in this country at the present time!). Later, the eighth graders are paired up with high school students for a day at the local high school where they gain some valuable "experience" in what to expect when they begin attending in the fall. Eighth grade is not plot heavy and depends on a series of vignettes that chart the protagonist's journey. Kayla is invited to the birthday pool party of a girl whom has snubbed her in school, but attends at the behest of the rival's mother. There she confronts Aiden, a boy she has a crush on, offering to send him nude pictures of herself. The boy counters by asking her if she knows how to give oral sex. This then results in Kayla's desire to educate herself on the subject by watching explicit online videos as well as practicing with a banana (practice which fails to come to fruition, after she's interrupted by her father). The second act dark moment arrives after Kayla hooks up with Olivia, the high school student she was paired up with at school. Burnham smartly contrasts the older teenagers' more sophisticated banter with some of the more monosyllabic utterances of the younger crowd Kayla has been interacting with earlier. In perhaps the most harrowing scene in the film (which hardly should be called harrowing), Kayla gets a ride home with Olivia's friend Riley, one of the older high school students, who parks his car, gets in the back seat with Olivia and begins playing a game of "truth or dare." He gets as far as taking his shirt off when Kayla makes it clear that she wants him to stop and drive her home. Fortunately there are no real tragic moments in the film but it's a learning moment for Kayla, who finally pours out her heart to her father, after the traumatic event. If there is one flaw to this film, Burnham has some trouble wrapping things up. There's the overly sentimental scene involving the embrace between father and daughter as well as Kayla rather abruptly effecting her comeuppance of Kennedy, whom she bluntly tells off in the school hallway, right before film's end (maybe not the best way to demonstrate how she's found her confidence). It's Burnham's observational skills about today's environment permeated by social media, as well as the psychology of the teenage mind, that prove he is a talent to be reckoned with. In addition, with his adroit use of social media and overall clever cinematography (not to mention the great use of music to enhance the drama), Burnham has already positioned himself as a major force in the cinematic world today.

Ocean Girl I only gave this 3 stars because the girl who played Kayla is very talented. Boy was this movie boring. If this is really what 8th grade is like these days, I'm so glad I grew up in the early to mid 70s!

Charles Camp Eighth Grade certainly stands out as one of the more authentic portrayals of what the millennial middle school experience must be like. It primarily examines the profound impact social media has had on the preteen and adolescent experience and does a frequently wonderful job of weaving social media into the fabric of the film. Early on comes an excellent montage of our socially inhibited protagonist sitting on her bed, earbuds secured, face illuminated by her phone, colorful and bright social media app images superimposed over her vacant, even troubled expression, likes and comments flowing through her fingertips, pop music blaring. It's a great example of a director harnessing the film medium to make a statement which would've otherwise needed a mass of words to properly articulate.The film is at it's best when it's in this headspace, capturing the experience of today's middle schooler with both insight and humor. Take perhaps its best sequence in which Kayla apprehensively attends a scornful classmate's birthday party filled with kids she doesn't know. Here the film fires on all cylinders and offers a barrage of effective choices and moments: use of voiceover from Kayla's YouTube channel to add weight to the harsh reality of her loneliness, cringy and effective humor in the awkward interactions between her and her crush, the way in which Kayla is constantly framed as separate from the mass of kids enjoying themselves, and that absolutely painful moment of silence when her classmate opens up Kayla's birthday gift which has to be one of the most potently uncomfortable scenes I've watched this year. As a whole this sequence not only entertains, it builds empathy and is executed with a realism that forces you to stew in Kayla's discomfort. Perhaps it'll even bubble up emotions from a similar experience you may have had growing up.But there are times when the film veers somewhat off course. It may simply be a matter of taste, but some of the humor just didn't land with me. So much of the film's strength is in its authenticity and the comedy at times becomes overblown in a way that detracts from the realism. The banana scene, for instance, or the somewhat forced conversation between Kayla and her crush under the desk during the shooting drill - these are moments that feel more like SNL sketches than genuine middle school experiences. Too often the movie overreaches for laughs when restraint may have served it better. It also struggles to fully satisfy narratively with later would-be "climatic" moments which feel somewhat unearned and abrupt. A great example of this is the scene where Kayla confronts her condescending classmates towards the conclusion which comes out-of-left-field and feels like it was shoved into the film for the sake of providing some sort of unnecessary "closure."In the grand scheme, these shortcomings aren't enough to overshadow the film's many successes. It stands out as a notable and insightful film on the subject and is certainly worth the watch even it doesn't stick every landing.Strong 3.5/5