Eighth Grade (2018)
Stars: Elsie Fisher, Josh Hamilton, Emily Robinson
Runtime: 93 minutes
Synopsis: The story of Kayla's disastrous last few days in elementary school.
- Performances: 9/10
Why? A tour de force performance from up and coming star Elsie Fisher. She gave life to a fascinating character that was so genuine and real that she made me forget that I was watching a character and not a real child. Josh Hamilton was also incredibly good as her goofy father trying his best to build a connection with her. The rest of the cast was unfortunately not on the level of the two leads, but didn't have much to do anyway.
- Screenplay: 7/10
Why? I can totally see "Eighth Grade" becoming a classic in the coming-of-age genre. The directorial debut of only 28-years-old Bo Burnham perfectly captures the toxicity of modern elementary schools as well as the importance of social media in today's world. The character of Kayla is exceptionally layered and feels incredibly real. The movie was generally very well written despite an ending that was a bit too cheesy, a disturbing scene towards the end I didn't particularly find engaging, and some story arcs that I felt lacked development.
- Costumes/Makeup: 7/10
Why? Very realistically designed. The children's clothes actually looked like children clothes.
- Editing: 7/10
Why? I sometimes had the feeling that there were some missing scenes. However, the pacing was pretty well handled and the movie's runtime was justified.
- Cinematography: 6/10
Why? Pretty safe. I wish cinematographer Andrew Wehde took more risks and made the movie more interesting visually.
- Score/Soundtrack: 7/10
Why? Accompanied well the general tone the movie was going for. The soundtrack sometimes switched to songs Kayla was listening to on her phone, and I sometimes didn't buy the fact that she'd listen to these particular songs, but I still enjoyed them.
FINAL GRADE: 7/10
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