'Eighth Grade' A Review

Eighth Grade is a coming of age dramedy that follows Kayla(Elsie Fisher) on her last week of eighth grade. The film opens on Kayla recording a self-help style installment on her vlog, we then see her attending school and the image she attempts to convey in her videos and the subjects she discusses are in contrast to her life at school. She is awkward, reserved, and anxious and the videos, which also double seamlessly as Kayla’s internal monologue, are her attempt at becoming. The days we follow Kayla may seem, for the most part, inconsequential but they are imbued with the life-and-death importance that she gives which we in turn share with the same high-stakes, heartbreak, and exhilaration that she feels.

Fisher easily gives one of the best performances of the year, she channels openness, vulnerability, and courage that is universal for that almost always tortuous time in development. It is significant also that she is age appropriate for the character(as is the entire cast) something Hollywood has typically shunned in favor of prettier more assured performances(i.e. inauthentic). The rawness, complexity, and honesty she conveys is both shattering and ecstatic. Fisher is able to translate an emotional truth that extends beyond the typical feel-good coming-of-age cliché to something deeply resonant. Josh Hamilton as Kayla's father Mark also puts in an amazing turn, a career best, with a realistic awkwardness and care he portrays a real dad who cares for his daughter with natural clueless and ineptitude outside the wise/cool dad troupes these types of films usually rely on. The supporting cast are all incredibly spot-on, there is humor paired with a magnetic authenticity that ground and elevate the story beyond convention.

The electronic score weaves harmonically with the action, more assertive than typical it underlines, elevates, even directs some of the emotions of its lead to startling effect. The cinematography is almost claustrophobic in that the film is constantly revolving around Kayla's POV but never straying further. All elements come together to put us solidly in Kayla's head, seeing the world the way she does and feeling the way she feels.

The film has so much nuance and emotional resonance and reliability the title may be Eighth Grade but it is really about the glorious, messy, heartbreaking human condition.

Don't Miss It.