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EIGHTH GRADE
Bo Burnham has made a very gentle, open and fragile depiction of not just eighth grade but of youth in general. There are many recognizable elements to this film, but the way Burnham handles them are with so much care and authenticity that you don’t really feel the clichés becoming clammy or the structure becoming staged. Everything is very natural and calm-like and the world feels small and huge at the same time, which is a very delicate but important balance to pull off for this type of movie.
It honestly wasn’t until the end that I began to feel the fiction-part of this tale. This doesn’t mean that the film was brought to a halt because of it or that it was made really raw and documentary-like up until then, but more that it puts the thoughts and feelings first throughout, rather than the structural pin-points and storybeats, which does become clearer later on, for good and bad. Elsie Fisher gives an honest and honestly quite brilliant performance, complete with all the quirks and questions a girl her age might have. It really feels authentic and the movie lets her breathe as well (how hectic and anxiety-inducing that breathing may be at times hah).
Overall this film captures something special, and through most of its runtime, does so very delicately and succeeds in being obvious and subtle at the same time. It’s a movie that truly feels comfortable being outside the comfort zone because it knows how to portray that part properly. There’s room for fun visual and musical representations of self-reflection and situations known to this age and that’s both fun and fear-inducing - because we are right there with her (again, especially because of the amazing Fisher).
I feel like this film is one to do and say what a lot of films how been trying to, but without the same effect or succes. It may not be the eighth wonder of the teenage world, but it is successful in being a small, simple but satisfying portrayal of your everyday eighth grader... therefore... a not so everyday eighth grade (out of ten) from me.
Gucci.
8/10
+
Bo Burnham has made a very gentle, open and fragile depiction of not just eighth grade but of youth in general. There are many recognizable elements to this film, but the way Burnham handles them are with so much care and authenticity that you don’t really feel the clichés becoming clammy or the structure becoming staged. Everything is very natural and calm-like and the world feels small and huge at the same time, which is a very delicate but important balance to pull off for this type of movie.
It honestly wasn’t until the end that I began to feel the fiction-part of this tale. This doesn’t mean that the film was brought to a halt because of it or that it was made really raw and documentary-like up until then, but more that it puts the thoughts and feelings first throughout, rather than the structural pin-points and storybeats, which does become clearer later on, for good and bad. Elsie Fisher gives an honest and honestly quite brilliant performance, complete with all the quirks and questions a girl her age might have. It really feels authentic and the movie lets her breathe as well (how hectic and anxiety-inducing that breathing may be at times hah).
Overall this film captures something special, and through most of its runtime, does so very delicately and succeeds in being obvious and subtle at the same time. It’s a movie that truly feels comfortable being outside the comfort zone because it knows how to portray that part properly. There’s room for fun visual and musical representations of self-reflection and situations known to this age and that’s both fun and fear-inducing - because we are right there with her (again, especially because of the amazing Fisher).
I feel like this film is one to do and say what a lot of films how been trying to, but without the same effect or succes. It may not be the eighth wonder of the teenage world, but it is successful in being a small, simple but satisfying portrayal of your everyday eighth grader... therefore... a not so everyday eighth grade (out of ten) from me.
Gucci.
8/10
+