Every so often, a movie comes along that blows me away on every level. Films that come to mind include Mad Max: Fury Road, Gravity, Moonlight, La La Land and Phantom Thread. Now you can add Eighth Grade to the list. The stunning debut from Bo Burnham, Eighth Grade takes you on an emotional roller coaster as you follow the very relatable life of introverted eighth grader Kayla, played by Elsie Fisher. The film flawlessly executes every level of filmmaking, and I found myself hanging on every word and every scene. I instantly connected with the kind but shy Kayla, and I think many of us unpopular kids will see a lot of our daily struggles play out in her life, with a modern twist to top it off (you had Snapchat in fifth grade???). The best film of the year so far, Bo Burnham cements himself as one of the best in the business with the very definition of a perfect film.
At the center of this film is an incredibly grounded and intimate performance from its lead, Elsie Fisher. Her performance was reminiscent of Sasha Lane in American Honey, or Kitana Kiki Rodriguez in Tangerine. Honestly, this entire film feels directly inspired by Sean Baker. Most filmmakers can only dream about making their characters feel as human as the characters of something like Tangerine or The Florida Project. But that’s exactly what Kayla feels like. She is subdued and emotional while being awkward and fun. And cool. Fisher’s performance comes with the added bonus of it being a debut lead role for the talented young actress, which to me is all the rationale I need to call it the best performance of the year. Kayla is accompanied by character actor Josh Hamilton, who portrays Kayla’s father, Mark. Their chemistry is wonderful. In my opinion, it would typically be hard to sell the awkward father/daughter relationship, but these two pull it off with ease. Hamilton has the most emotionally striking moment of the film in the form of a monologue reminiscent of Michael Stuhlbarg’s devastating one in Call Me By Your Name that basically comes out of nowhere. Even though you’re laughing for most of this film, be prepared to rock the ugly cry before it ends.
This speech is shot beautifully through the film’s incredible cinematography. Most of this film is shot through Kayla’s perspective, which leads to some very claustrophobic and chaotic shots. There’s one shot in particular where Kayla is talking and pacing back and forth, and the shot feels so dynamic thanks to a colorful background and (I think) a telephoto lens. It relates the disorienting feeling Kayla is experiencing in this deliriously joyous scene. Mad kudos to cinematographer Andrew Wehde for the execution here. Speaking of newcomers, we have to talk about the experimental score from Anna Meredith. This score is easily the best score of the 2018, and right there with some of my favorites of all time. Honestly I haven’t found a score this groundbreaking since Atticus Ross and Trent Reznor’s score to 2010’s The Social Network, widely considered the most influential score of this decade. Meredith’s wonderful use of synthesizers creates a very modern score, and they layer on top of each other brilliantly. The sound design also hammers the amazing score home. The editing is executed perfectly as well, as the film utilizes YouTube videos from Kayla as voiceovers to create something of a modern montage sequence at various moments. Honestly, for a film that utilizes social media as much as this, I was shocked at how fluid the pacing was in the sequences where Kayla is basically looking at her phone, sequences that so many other films get wrong.
The film starts out as a comedy but around halfway through the second act Burnham veers the story hard to the right and turns it into a tearful drama with some gripping scenes. This works so well. Seriously, for a debut feature film Burnham brings the poise of a Paul Thomas Anderson or Damien Chazelle.
This is an absolute must-see for all. And take your kids too! This coming-of-age drama is about as light an R rating as you’ll ever see. Seriously, the MPAA really needs to revamp its ratings system when something as touching and worthy as this is rated R while something as violent and disturbing as World War Z gets a PG-13 rating.
