Film Review: Bo Burnham's "Eighth Grade"

I hear the familiar dings of a budding Photo Booth masterpiece, and I am transported into the life of an eighth grader. Surprisingly, it isn’t that of protagonist Kayla (Elsie Fisher). Rather, the impossibly perceptive Director Bo Burnham confronts me with my own middle school saga on the screen, and I am slightly terrified. Through Kayla's eyes, I feel everything all over again: the acne as insuppressible as the all-encompassing crush. The devotion to popular trends so blind that it rivals religious faith. The embarrassment of simply existing. And, of course, the seriousness of every social situation coupled with the decided realization that you are absolutely invisible. Needless to say, Eighth Grade has nestled into my heart (and list of upcoming recommended flicks).Burnham’s illustration of tween doom, from a health class video claiming that puberty will be “lit” to a parent trailing behind our central character’s first mall hangout, is as hearteningly comical as it is wonderfully realistic. Yet, Eighth Grade is faced with its own challenge still novel to the typical coming-of-age film: how to properly capture what it means to grow up in the age of iPhones and Snapchat (which Kayla claims she got as early as the fifth grade). Every night, Kayla scrolls: the blue light illuminating her slightly gaped mouth, her own moving eyes reflected in the phone screen as she scans her various feeds, as if to remind us of how easy it is for our realities to merge with the virtual world.We know the movie will end somewhat positively for Kayla because, in the past hour of mean girl pool parties and peace sign selfies, we’ve grown to want that for her. Along with some more cliché realizations – that we need to stick up to bullies and that life will continue after middle school – Burnham ends with a shockingly refreshing message: being kind is just as important as being smart or quirky or popular. Kayla is an average girl – no, she is not “average” with striking beauty that she just doesn’t know herself, or “average” with a superpower or secret skill. Kayla is average, and in a heartfelt moment of self-doubt, her father explains to her that her ability to be thoughtful, caring, and understanding of others makes him proud to have raised her. I didn’t have to teach you how to share, he tells his daughter, you knew it all yourself. You just did it on your own.When Eighth Grade comes out in theaters, be prepared to watch Kayla’s middle-school experience as you perhaps feel your own. Unless the pre-teens were a peak for you, you'll find that Burnham's most recent endeavor will immerse you in the art of discomfort. At least for me, nothing is more cringe-worthy than my own Photo Booth gems. Image via