In his feature film directorial debut, comedian Bo Burnham deftly encapsulates the awkwardness, angst, self-loathing and reinvention that a teenage girl goes through on the cusp of high school.
Given that the 27-year-old stand-up comic achieved fame as a teenager himself through YouTube by riffing on his insecurities, he is uniquely capable as the film's writer and director to tell the story of Kayla, an anxious girl navigating the final days of her eighth grade year, despite creating a protagonist female instead of male.
Like Burnham did more than a decade ago, 13-year-old Kayla turns to YouTube to express herself, where she makes advice blogs in which she pretends to have it all together. In reality, Kayla is sullen and silent around her single father and her peers at school, carrying out most of her interactions with her classmates on Instagram and Twitter. Her YouTube videos are a clever narrative tool that provide insight into her inner hopes and dreams, much like an inspirational online diary.
One of Eighth Grade's biggest triumphs is in its realism.
Play | Title | Artist |
---|---|---|
Eighth Grade
|
||
Orinoco Flow
|
||
5 Stars
|
Joshua Welton:
Writer
|
|
The Star Spangled Banner
|
John Stafford Smith:
Writer
|
|
Love on the Run
|
||
I Ain't Got Nobody
|
|
|
Future Club
|
|
|
Came in
|
|
|
Boss
|
|
|
Being Yourself
|
Anna Meredith:
Performer
|
|
Putting Yourself Out There
|
Anna Meredith:
Performer
|
|
Nautilus
|
Anna Meredith:
Performer
|
|
How To Be Confident
|
Anna Meredith:
Performer
|
|
Stay Calm
|
Anna Meredith:
Performer
|
|
The Banana
|
Anna Meredith:
Performer
|
|
High School
|
Anna Meredith:
Performer
|
|
Rhododendron
|
Anna Meredith:
Performer
|
|
How To Be Confident (Again)
|
Anna Meredith:
Performer
|
|
A Lot At Once
|
Anna Meredith:
Performer
|
|
Honeyed Words
|
Anna Meredith:
Performer
|
|
MGMS Class of 2017
|
Anna Meredith:
Performer
|
|
The Coolest Girl in The World
|
Anna Meredith:
Performer
|
|
REDBLUEGREEN
|
Anna Meredith:
Performer
|
|
MIDI
|
Anna Meredith:
Performer
|
|
Nervous All the Time
|
Anna Meredith:
Performer
|
|
A Really Good Day
|
Anna Meredith:
Performer
|
|
How To Be Confident (For Real)
|
Anna Meredith:
Performer
|
|