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EIGHTH GRADE
****
Dir: Bo Burnham
Starring: Elsie Fisher, Josh Hamilton
(15 1hr 34mins)
A heart-wrenching adolescent drama that rings wonderfully true in its awkward, painfully observed brilliance. Eighth Grade winningly captures the trials and tribulations of teenager Kayla in all their squirm-inducing glory.
A superb Elsie Fisher plays Kayla, a teenage girl glued to her electronic devices who gets up, puts on a full face of make-up and then pretends to get out of bed for her first Snapchat of the day. She makes motivational YouTube videos that never get a thumbs up, attempting to put her imprint on a world she doesn’t understand. She can’t get in with the cool kids and retreats to rooms on her own at parties to glare at her screen-shattered smartphone, locked into a prison of self-criticism.
Her father (Josh Hamilton) tries to understand her, getting to the root of her vulnerabilities as sensitively as he can whilst facing a barrage of adolescent angst. Fisher makes us care deeply for Kayla; her painful awkwardness is brilliantly pitched, thanks to Burnham’s well-judged writing and direction. She is in love with a boy Aiden (Luke Prael) who is wrong for her, and can’t see the one who may be right, Gabe (Jake Ryan). Gabe doesn’t want to spend time with her for purely testosterone-based reasons. The kids look like kids – the acne is front and centre, the braces, the awkwardness – rather than cleaned-up 90210-esque versions.
Eighth Grade is yet another coming-of-age story in the vein of Lady Bird but it is equally as moving and spot on; Elsie Fisher is a teen actor you want to look out for. Director and writer Bo Burnham achieved fame early at 16 thanks to his viral videos and comedy songwriting prowess, but this film proves he is more than a mere vlogger. He’s created a film that both teenagers and their parents can truly identify with. Excellent.
words KEIRON SELF
Out now in cinemas