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T Infernal horrors and inflated triumphs of being 13 are mostly brought to the screen with a detached shine, cinematic teenage rhythms aligning with each other. rarely with those experienced in real life. In eighth grade, the wonderful debut of comedian Bo Burnham, there is a refreshing escape from such artifice, the big screen call card from the old YouTuber looking more like a documentary only to a classic film of middle age
. , the teen dialogues are inept and the performances are almost entirely naturalistic, but Burnham still guides his film with a distinct, cinematic hand. He feels real without ever meandering, the work of a skillful curator featuring his impressive knowledge of the adolescent psyche.
The co-author of Burnham is Elsie Fisher, whose performance is as integral to the film's success as her direction. She plays Kayla, a girl whose online presence as a confident vlogger and who throws advice is extremely at odds with who she is at school: a loner who has trouble connecting with those who l? ; around. It's not for lack of trying, and in her last days of college, she is determined to make progress with the girls who despise her and the boys who do not even look at her before moving on to a new major phase.
The story of the last few days of college of a 13-year-old girl may sound strange for the first film of a comedian and at a time when we still see so many female stories told at through a male lens, it could appear as slightly regressive, especially after Lady Bird, richly observed by Greta Gerwig. But Burnham's recent past as a viral star (since the age of 16, his videos have grown more than 228m views), has given him first-hand knowledge of what it's like. is to grow online and authenticity For Kayla, access to social media allows her to feel superficially connected, but being far from anything that looks like a real social circle, she can also Feeling frustrated, the possibility of popularity literally at his fingertips. There is a keen awareness of the different roles played at this age, depending on the space. On YouTube, Kayla is confident and sure of herself, at school she is nervous and calm and with her father, she is irritable and rude. There is nuance not only in the characterization of Kayla but also in the events taking place around her.
For much of the film, the difficulties she encounters, from an uncomfortable pool party to a maltreated harassment scene, are put to the test, but Burnham avoids an excess of cruelty. This is not welcome at the dollhouse. He pepper the film with moments of rare joy and full of excitement that jump even further because they feel so deserved. At one point, Kayla befriended an older girl, and I found myself as excited as them, a relatively simple life event turned into a cheering victory.
Burnham often accompanies moments of extreme emotion, good and bad, unexpected bursts of EDM, a decision that might seem intrusive, but in practice it is extremely effective. A change of bathroom outfit suddenly evokes the terror of sweating palms as Kayla casts a glance at her unhappy crush across the classroom to turn herself into an awareness of earthly gravity . It's a clever way to convey the enormity of events that might seem trivial to the surface and help us tune into Kayla's wavelength for the duration. She is in every scene and our intense investment in her daily life is a truly outstanding Fisher performance.
She's not exactly an unknown (her previous credits include voice work in the Despicable Me franchise) but she feels as if she's an accidental discovery, as if that role had been created for her. It's an uncomfortably real ride, her social anxiety proving horribly familiar to everyone who felt out of place, and Burnham's scenario never betrays her, refusing to resort to the convention in the ### 39, final act. He understands that victories are weak, that changes are slow and that the future is uncertain and that the challenge of waiting leads to a much more satisfying experience. Eighth grade is not easy, on the screen and in life, but it's a film that should be a rite of passage for all, no matter the age.
- Eighth year was released in the United States on July 13 with a British date yet to be announced
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