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Eighth Grade (2018) https://letterboxd.com/smudgeefc1985/film/eighth-grade/
Not to go over the top or anything, but I've never seen any film or tv show that so accurately portrayed the teenage introvert. Too often stories have arcs and we want to believe characters can improve on their faults and social problems, rise above it and grow to be a better person. But in real life, we're all human, and for so many of us who ever struggled with these problems, we never outgrow them, and we never learn how to fix them. We just learn to cope with it the best we can.
And I guess that's what this film is about. Painfully shy Kayla is edging towards the end of Middle School, where she has never fitted in, has no friends, and wants so desperately to change that without knowing how, despite living an active social media life. It's also a difficult time for any kid, as they're teetering on that brink of still being a kid, but wanting to move forward and be a grownup. That shyness, desperation to impress the popular and older kids, every feeling here feels real. The anxiety, the claustrophobia, the outright shame you felt as a teenager at the smallest embarrassment. Even the way we see everything from a teenage perspective, all of the adults in this film are super lame, in the way every authority figure always appears to be to a 14 year old.
It cut very close to the bone, so much of it was downright uncomfortable. But there is always s feeling of hope underneath, and it somehow ends with a smile. Worth everybody's time, especially any parent of an angsty Instagramming 14 year old.
Not to go over the top or anything, but I've never seen any film or tv show that so accurately portrayed the teenage introvert. Too often stories have arcs and we want to believe characters can improve on their faults and social problems, rise above it and grow to be a better person. But in real life, we're all human, and for so many of us who ever struggled with these problems, we never outgrow them, and we never learn how to fix them. We just learn to cope with it the best we can.
And I guess that's what this film is about. Painfully shy Kayla is edging towards the end of Middle School, where she has never fitted in, has no friends, and wants so desperately to change that without knowing how, despite living an active social media life. It's also a difficult time for any kid, as they're teetering on that brink of still being a kid, but wanting to move forward and be a grownup. That shyness, desperation to impress the popular and older kids, every feeling here feels real. The anxiety, the claustrophobia, the outright shame you felt as a teenager at the smallest embarrassment. Even the way we see everything from a teenage perspective, all of the adults in this film are super lame, in the way every authority figure always appears to be to a 14 year old.
It cut very close to the bone, so much of it was downright uncomfortable. But there is always s feeling of hope underneath, and it somehow ends with a smile. Worth everybody's time, especially any parent of an angsty Instagramming 14 year old.