The transition from junior high to high school is massive for they will go through the last four years of not solely trying to achieve great grades and high SAT scores to get into college but also making a name of himself/herself for the sake of his/her self-esteem and for the school. But, in this day and age, social media is a huge element of one's youth as one would want to display or comment about what they are feeling as it would be highlight in friends' social media databases. Sometimes, negative or nasty comments would give you the boot from a job and/or raise concern from other people, especially from your loved ones. This movie combines adolescence and social media into something far greater about one tackling teen insecurity. This is a truthful portrait about the transition from teenager to young adult paralleling the ever-changing social media. Ladybird was the definition of a great coming-of-age film last year, Eighth Grade carries on that same definition.
Kayla Day (Elsie Fisher) is an eighth-grader in the last week of middle school (or in other terms, junior high). She is an introverted girl who is struggling to make friends at schools but is a YouTube vlogger who posts motivational videos regarding confidence and self-image that gets almost no views. Her single father, Mark (Josh Hamilton), also struggles to connect with her. He wants to improve connection with Kayla as she spends a lot of time in social media.
Kayla is invited to Kennedy's (Catherine Oliviere) pool party, because her mom is forced to. Kayla suffers an anxiety attack in the bathroom but goes out to swim where she meets Gabe (Jake Ryan), Kennedy's nerdy cousin. But, while on the phone, also, she has an awkward encounter with her crush, Aiden (Luke Prael), who suggests to rejoin the party. Kayla overhears that Aiden broke up with his last girlfriend because she refused to send him nude photos. But, Aiden piques his interest as she lies about having a nude photos folder and he mentions a sexual term that Kayla does not know what it means but is turned off when she finds out what it is. Also, she attends a high school program where she shadows a high schooler who is a senior named Olivia (Emily Robinson).
Sometimes, when there is a movie about an awkward state of adolescence, you can pinpoint what will happen. Not with this movie because the movie flows with such grace and understanding about the human conditions of what someone is going through from jumping from one phase to another phase of high school but is still struggling to identify herself. This movie is like a combination of Lady Bird and Ingrid Goes West where it centers on trying to find themselves but it is more similar to the latter, as Kayla has to concoct a fake persona to get what she wants: friends. The scene in the car where she says she knows something is quite proven of that fake persona because I would think in my mind, "No. Don't say yes. You don't know what you are doing." Sometimes, the lie can sneak up on you and bite you back.
Elsie Fisher is amazing in this movie as she is a naturally gifted actress, navigating her character with such near-perfect dialogue that is smart and genuine with awkward pauses or moments while responding to a situation or to someone else. She does not hone down to that state of cliche of being so fake behind her fake persona like it is some rehearsal. But, also, she navigates her character through the use of social media as she is depressed because she is letting technology get the best of her growing up. Josh Hamilton is fantastic as the father as he also captures the detachment that you feel bad for because he wants to attempt to connect to her. He delivers a monologue towards the end that is quite lovely about being sad for her or if he is filled with remorse.
Bo Burnham, the director, passes the test with his debut as a filmmaker as he has come from a YouTube background. You can say he is the first director to come from those roots and grow as a creative writer/director and that is inspiring. It does not solely explore about the life behind social media as people bury themselves in their phones but it also explores identity from being in middle school to high school and what to anticipate for in the future while she looks back in her past in a couple of scenes. The screenplay is on point, the direction and the use of music is quite solid that is not heavy-handed. The movie is wise and fresh about adolescence being in a different time because of social media and technology that is interesting but also is dependent on communication that elevates the father-daughter relationship with such levity and poignancy. I can't wait to see what Burnham comes up with next. I was surprised as to how much I liked this movie.
NOTE: This movie is rated R, which I do not understand. Yes, they have to abide by the ratings because of language and some sexual material. But, I encourage teenagers (13 and up) to watch this movie because it explores the nature of what they are learning throughout life in middles school. So, I recommend it for teenagers.
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