Eighth Grade (2018)

Written by beyondthecineramadome on June 20, 2022

Full review: https://www.tinakakadelis.com/beyond-the-cinerama-dome/2021/12/28/its-brutal-out-here-eighth-gradenbspreview

Internet comedian and humorous songwriter Bo Burnham in the role of writer and director of a movie about an eighth-grade girl sounds, on the surface, like quite a mismatch. What could Burnham know about the very specific horrors of being a thirteen-year-old girl in the internet age? It turns out that Burnham was the perfect person for the job. Eighth Grade is both a comedy and a horror film. It’s an honest exploration of the anxiety of middle school and the out-of-body experience that is puberty. Burnham based the main character, Kayla (Elsie Fisher), on his own experiences with panic attacks and anxiety. He has explained that those feelings of anxiety remind him of the terrors of his own middle school experience.