{"id":367,"date":"2018-08-09T01:58:46","date_gmt":"2018-08-09T01:58:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.granitecitynow.com\/?p=367"},"modified":"2018-08-09T02:11:36","modified_gmt":"2018-08-09T02:11:36","slug":"eighth-grade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.granitecitynow.com\/?p=367","title":{"rendered":"Eighth Grade"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>If, by some chance, you had forgotten how much junior high school sucked, writer\/director Bo Burnham delivers an eye-opening, slap-in-the-face reminder of that tumultuous time in \u201cEighth Grade.\u201d<\/p>\n

The film follows Kayla (the phenomenally superb Elsie Fisher), an insanely shy eighth grader, as she struggles through the last week of junior high school.<\/p>\n

She doesn\u2019t have many friends (or any, really); she thinks her dad is \u201cweird; she\u2019s voted \u201cMost Quiet\u201d among her peers; her Friday nights are spent perusing social media on her phone or laptop.<\/p>\n

If it wasn\u2019t for Burnham keeping the camera stationary, with Kayla at the center of the crowd shots during the school assembly, she would all but disappear.<\/p>\n

The only time she really stands out is when she\u2019s making videos for her online channel.<\/p>\n

The film opens with Kayla addressing the camera while recording one of these digital displays of wisdom, this one covering the topic of \u201cbeing yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s filled with an exorbitant number of \u201cumm\u201ds and \u201clike\u201ds, but it also shows a happy, confident, chatty young woman insisting that \u201ceverything will work out if you\u2019re just being yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s good advice, especially in a time when the internet and social media tend to dictate what kids think they should do and who they think they should be.<\/p>\n

Check out those shots when Kayla\u2019s scrolling through social media feeds \u2013 the way her face reflects in the images she\u2019s seeing, and how her eyes line up in perfect registration with the photos she\u2019s viewing on Instagram and Twitter. It\u2019s a constant tug-of-war, allowing for arbitrary comparisons that lead to unrealistic expectations.<\/p>\n

\u201cEighth Grade\u201d marks Burnham’s feature film debut behind the camera, but watching this flick you\u2019d never know it.<\/p>\n

His faming and shot selections deftly express Kayla\u2019s persistent social awkwardness and embarrassment; every bit <\/em>of her uneasiness is obvious thanks to Burnham\u2019s vision and execution.<\/p>\n

His use of jumpy camera and quick cuts during Kayla\u2019s pre-swimsuit panic attack allows us to feel her anxiety as the whirlwind of images sends our senses into overdrive.<\/p>\n

Deep breath!<\/p>\n

The tracking shots \u2013 up to the front door at Kennedy\u2019s (Catherine Oliviere) house, through the hallways at school, among the swarms of popular kids at a pool party \u2013 lets us to not only watch her hesitation, but they\u2019re sort of interactive, at times putting us in her shoes and her mindset.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s really no better way to show discomfort than with awkward silence, tight shots and long takes, and Burnham utilizes those to next-level expertise: Kayla\u2019s dinner table conversation with her dad, Mark (Josh Hamilton); trying to impress her crush, Aiden (Luke Prael), during an active-shooter drill; the gift opening scene at Kennedy\u2019s party.<\/p>\n

But nothing will make you cringe more than Kayla\u2019s ride home from the mall. Burnham holds the shots on Kayla so<\/em> long that your mind will race, and the anticipation will have you holding your breath and begging<\/em> for resolve.<\/p>\n

Fisher is an absolute marvel. She\u2019s the eager and observant wallflower who so desperately wants to be somebody. You\u2019ll want to reach through the screen and give her a hug.<\/p>\n

As Kayla, Fisher is at times naively funny (the banana?), charmingly pitiful, and boldly assertive. But she\u2019s always very<\/em> real.<\/p>\n

And Hamilton is a fantastically nerdy dad. His confused reactions to Kayla\u2019s comments and requests are spot on, and that backyard bonfire scene might be the one of the most precious moments in recent cinematic memory.<\/p>\n

\u201cEighth Grade\u201d is one of my favorite movies this year.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s honest and faithful and delicate. It\u2019ll put you on edge. It\u2019ll break your heart. It\u2019ll make you smile. And it\u2019s worth every emotion.<\/p>\n

\u201cGucci!\u201d<\/p>\n

You have just enjoyed the insights of Movie Addict Mel, a cinema dork and conversational writer. Follow her on Twitter\u00a0@movieaddictmel<\/a>, and \u201clike\u201d her Facebook page\u00a0www.facebook.com\/movieaddictmel<\/a><\/em>. You also can email her at movieaddictmel@outlook.com<\/em>.<\/p>\n