Eighth Grade movie review - Aussieboyreviews

IS EIGHTH GRADE THE BEST COMING-OF-AGE STORY FOR TEENS?

It definitely is for young teens! And with great acting and realistic teenage content, most audiences will enjoy this comedy-drama featuring the awkwardness of teen years.

Storyline

Kayla Day is an introverted eighth grader who is about to start high school and posts videos about self-confidence on the Internet. Later, she realises she is not the person she is encouraging her Internet viewers to be and decides to overcome her fears.

Movie Images

Movie details

Director: Bo Burnham
Cast: Elsie Fisher, Josh Hamilton, Emily Robinson, Jake Ryan, Fred Hechinger
Writer: Bo Burnham
Release Date (Australia): 3 January 2019
Runtime: 93 minutes/1h 33m
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Language: English

CONTENT GUIDE (WARNING: MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS)

Themes (PG)

The film includes thematic content in the form of peer pressure, adolescence and a panic attack.

Coarse Language (M)

The film contains occasional use of the word “f**k”, in addition to uses of “s**t”, “d**k” and “p***y”.

Sex (M)

The film includes references to oral sex and masturbation. There is a brief scene in which it is implied that a boy is masturbating in class and another scene where a young character attempts to practice oral sex on a banana.

mpaa rating

R (for language and some sexual material)

Aussie boy's thoughts

Bo Burnham has cleverly constructed an excellent coming-of-age story that’s just as painful and weighty as transitioning from middle school to high school. Eighth Grade is definitely a film that majority of teens will not only enjoy, but will find all of the film’s elements realistic compared to today’s generations.

This cringe-worthy comedy starring Elsie Fisher is honestly very funny at moments, but is also quite dramatic and challenging. There are some great jokes throughout, but audiences will remember the painfully realistic story of a teenage girl’s last week of middle school. A24 movies usually follow the similar style of shooting, quality and music, which is probably one component on what makes Eighth Grade a well-made teen film. However, some people will obviously find the film boring and slow-burning.

What needs to be focused on is the cringey but carefully type of acting. Kayla, played by Elsie Fisher, is amazing at displaying the awkwardness of being a teenager, especially when it comes to social life. There are great ideas wrapped in there and the characters are all well-produced, but the film isn’t way too gripping.

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