Summary
It’s her last week of middles school as Kayla looks back and realizes she didn’t realize any of her dreams over her time there. Will high school be more of the same or will she finally start growing into the person she only ever is online?
No So Boring of Age
Normally I’m not a big fan of coming-of-age stories. They are usually dealing with issues that I have settled for myself or, if I haven’t yet, probably never will. There are rare exceptions to this rule, however, and it is normally when a coming-of-age film gets a lot of praise from the critical community that I sit up and pay attention.
Last year’s “Ladybird" is a good example of a movie I would never normally see but the critical buzz convinced me. "Eighth Grade" is another. Within the first 10 minutes I was hooked.
The most important thing in a film like this one, for me at least, is that the main character be likable and relatable. Luckily the Kayla is both of these but in a unique and creative way. Every one has seen movies with the quiet, shy, and nervous girl who seems to always back down to the fears that she has of other kids even though she wants to be cool and fit in. What makes this movie unique is that in between these scenes we also get scenes of her video blog where she gives advice to others on these very topics of acceptance, courage, and being yourself.
The juxtaposition of these things makes the scenes between her and the other classmates all the more poignant because we know that the way she is behaving is not the way she wants to be. This sets up, in a very subtle and skilled way, the primary focus of the film. Will Kayla find a way to be the person she is on the inside?
As she journeys through this final week of eighth grade there is a little cast of characters that she interacts with who are simply wonderful. She has a visit to the high school where she makes friends with the upperclassman who shows her around, there is a weird boy who she meets at a party who plays awkward as well as Christopher Mintz-Plasse, and don’t even get me started on her dad. They are all hilarious and bring out different sides of her character.
Her dad is one of the best characters because we get to see them both behave the same way but one of them be scolded for it because she does the things he does in real life through her phone. She is, after all, a child of this millennium so her phone is attached to her hip and the only time she doesn’t have it out is when she is on her laptop or swimming. In fact, social media, th internet, and online culture is one of the touchstones of this movie.
The film’s treatment of technology is probably what made me like it more than the average film of this sort. The movie doesn’t scold kids for using phones and doesn’t try to teach anyone about them and their dangers. Instead Bo Burnham just lets technology be the way that it is in real life and lets you draw your own conclusions. As a result you get a really balanced film that shows both the positives and negatives of online and IRL (in real life) teen culture.
This movie had me thinking, laughing, and wishing I could help Kayla understand things that only come with experience. It’s the sort of movie that I would recommend to parents of a middle/high schooler to give them bits of insight. I would recommend it to a middle/high schooler because they would identify with it and think it is hilarious. Finally, I would recommend it to filmmakers who think that a first time outing has to be safe. You can be bold and express your voice in a no holds barred kind of way without apologizing or fear.
Bo Burnham has made a phenomenal first film and I don’t think it is an accident that so much of it is about acceptance, timidity, courage, and fear. These are exactly the things a filmmaker struggles with and must win in order to make a great film.
And this is a great film.
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