Flicks, Katie Parker
Newcomer Elsie Fisher makes her way through the last week of a disastrous last year of middle school—shy, isolated from her peers, and struggling for connection with her peers both IRL and online.
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Eighth Grade
Newcomer Elsie Fisher makes her way through the last week of a disastrous eighth grade year in comedian Bo Burnham's feature debut as director.
"Eighth-grader Kayla Day (Fisher) always has her phone in hand, hoping to find connections online that might make up for those she’s unable to forge in everyday life. She makes YouTube videos aimed at other adolescents dealing with similar issues—feelings of isolation, anxiety, and invisibility—but after so easily summoning this wisdom and confidence when addressing her (barely existent) audience, Kayla finds it paralysingly difficult to apply in real situations. In the final week of a thus-far-disastrous school year—and with high school looming on the horizon—Kayla struggles to bridge the gap between how she perceives herself and who she believes she should be." (Sundance Film Festival)
Less2018Rating: M, Sexual references and coarse language94 minsUSA
ComedyDrama
- Director:
- Bo Burnham (feature debut)
- Writer:
- Bo Burnham
- Cast:
- Elsie FisherJosh HamiltonEmily RobinsonMissy YagerGreg CroweDeborah UngerDaniel ZolghadriImani Lewis
Eighth Grade | Reviews
Bo Burnham’s 2018 debut as writer-director saw the precocious star of Inside prove surprisingly adept at conveying the challenging life of a teenage girl in this moving comedy-drama.
99%320 reviewsRotten Tomatoes® Score
All reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Vulture
Burnham has tapped into a byproduct of social-media-saturated adolescence that's often overlooked in favour of parental panic and worst-case-scenario horror stories.
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Variety
"Eighth Grade" shines as, like, a totally spot-on, you know, portrait of Millennial angst and stuff.
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Time Out
Eighth Grade is lovely work, lifted up by a timeless piece of indie wisdom: Keep it real, as cringe-inducing as that can be.
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Stuff
Heartwrenching, heartwarming and disquieting in equal measure, Eighth Grade is essential viewing for the parents of today's tweens.
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Screen Daily
It might be easy to laugh at Kayla, but Burnham and Fisher endow her with so much pathos that audiences are more likely to feel sympathy.
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New Zealand Herald
For all Burnham's skill in making the artfully-composed film, it's Fisher who really carries all the humour and heart, delivering a stunning performance that serves as a painfully relatable avatar for everybody watching.
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Hollywood Reporter
The kind of comedy that hipper parents might just be able to watch with their own offspring and enjoy.
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Collider
Nevertheless, thanks to a wonderfully sensitive and bold performance from [Elise] Fisher and some standout work from Burnham behind the camera, Eighth Grade is ultimately an effective-if not exactly revelatory-watch.
Full reviewEighth Grade | Release Details
Eighth Grade is available to stream in Australia now on Netflix and Google Play and Apple TV and Prime Video Store.