Eighth Grade (2018)
Genre: Comedy / Drama
Duration: 94 minuten
Alternative titles: The Coolest Girl in the World / Het Coolste Meisje van de Klas
Country:
United States
Directed by: Bo Burnham
Stars: Elsie Fisher, Josh Hamilton and Emily Robinson
IMDb score:
7,3 (86.471)
Releasedate: 19 January 2018
Eighth Grade plot
"Based on the most awkward year of your life"
Kayla Day is in the second grade of high school. She always has her phone to hand, hoping to find people online who can compensate for her daily life. She makes YouTube videos aimed at other adolescents who have similar problems: feelings of isolation, fear and invisibility. But having so easily gathered this wisdom and confidence when addressing her (barely existent) audience, Kayla finds it cripplingly difficult to apply them in real life situations.
Social Media
Actors and actresses
Kayla Day
Mark Day
Olivia
Gabe
Riley
Trevor
Aniyah
Aiden Wilson-Carter
Kennedy Graves
Steph
Reviews & comments
Cinsault
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- 243 messages
- 516 votes
Beautiful directorial debut by Bo Burnham that rises above the average. Kayla (Elsie Fisher) is a 13-year-old girl who is about to make the transition from eighth grade to high school. She lives with her father, her mother left at a young age. At school, Kayla is a quiet girl who doesn't belong anywhere, outside of school she makes barely watched vlogs about 'being yourself' in the safety of her bedroom. In daily practice, however, it is quite a task to comply with her own advice.
The beauty of Eighth Grade, I think, is that a lot of girls (as well as boys and now grown girls and boys) can identify very easily with the insecure but touching Kayla. What helps, among other things, is that for once a 'perfect' teenage girl has not been cast, but a girl who, like so many adolescents, suffers from acne and who is not very skinny. The situations Kayla finds herself in, in contact with her father or in relation to peers, are also often uncomfortably recognizable, even for many a parent with an indifferent-looking teenager who hides behind a smartphone. In that sense, the director has done his homework well. And Elsie Fisher's portrayal as Kayla is one to be framed. The film also knows how to press the right buttons emotionally, for example when father opens his heart in a nice one-on-one conversation with his daughter.
Of course there are also the typical American things, such as the somewhat caricatured teachers at school, the bored 'beautiful' girls as a counterpart to the insecure Kayla, the beautiful boy versus the somewhat 'nerdy' boy. That still comes across as a bit cliché. But that shouldn't spoil the fun: with Eighth Grade, Bo Burnham has made a surprisingly nuanced coming of age film in this genre.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Fisico
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- 10039 messages
- 5398 votes
This Eighth grade reminds me of the excellent The Edge of Seventeen (2016) I saw last week. Both with a different angle, but with a similar theme around a teenager who is especially in trouble with herself and her environment. Kayla is about a youngster like 13 in a dozen. Not incredibly handsome, but not ugly either. Slightly withdrawn and introverted, a gray mouse with a lot of lack of self-confidence and screaming for attention from her peers.
The good thing is that she knows damn well how the world works. In theory she knows perfectly what and how to do something, but in practice she is a total klutz. Through her video channel, she gives advice to other young people who are having a hard time being accepted. In itself all quite recognizable if you need advice / tips / a pat on the back in a difficult moment. You know the solution, but you would rather hear this from someone else than from yourself. That Youtube channel is not a success either, because she is by no means an inspiring speaker. No sugary film this Eighth grade where everything comes to its feet. A weekday period of an average teenager who communicates online and offline through very superficial contacts. There is no real talking anymore. Social media is somewhat criticized as a very time-consuming activity with little use. But social media is not at all denounced by the film and that is clever about the film.
Nice lead role by Elsie Fisher about a very insecure girl. Very nice achievement, even to portray the role of Kayla so naturally and effortlessly. I think a recognizable film for many adolescents and their parents. One to dwell on. Beautiful!
Translated from Dutch · View original
Zeriel
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- 1397 messages
- 2661 votes
I really enjoyed this beautiful movie.
I was more impressed with Elsie Fisher than Rami Malek as Freddy Mercury, who nevertheless won the Oscar. Better if all the nominees actually husband and wife.
Maybe because you barely realize she's acting.... that's how real it feels.
Bunch of suckers out there in Hollywood.
Translated from Dutch · View original
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