Eighth Grade

***Eighth Grade*** is a 2018 American coming-of-age comedy-drama film written and directed by Bo Burnham. It stars Elsie Fisher as Kayla, a teenager attending middle school who struggles with anxiety but strives to gain social acceptance from her peers during their final week of eighth grade. To cope, she publishes video blogs as a self-styled motivational advice-giver, though spends much of her time obsessing over social media. This frustrates Kayla's otherwise supportive father (Josh Hamilton), whom she alienates despite his wish to be present in her life as her sole parent.

The film is Burnham's feature-length debut as a writer and director. He began the screenplay in 2014 to reflect on his own anxiety and panic attacks during his career as a comedian. Deciding to convey his experience through Kayla, he also wanted to explore how her generation copes with mental illness, grows up with the presence of social media, navigates sexuality and consent, relates to their parents and develops their sense of self. Burnham aimed for realism, casting actual eighth graders—including lead actress Fisher—who informed his script and directing. For research, he watched vlogs from teenagers on YouTube, where he also discovered Fisher. Independently financed with a $2 million budget, production took place in 2017 in the suburban town of Suffern, New York.

*Eighth Grade* premiered on January 19, 2018 at Sundance Film Festival. It was later given wide theatrical release in the United States on July 13, 2018 by A24. Instead of appealing the Motion Picture Association of America's R (Restricted) rating of the film, A24 and Burnham arranged free all-ages theatrical screenings in every state to let their young intended audience see it.

Upon release, the film was a critical and commercial success, grossing $13.5 million domestically. The filmmakers won many awards and nominations, with Burnham winning both Writers Guild and Directors Guild of America Awards, and Fisher nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actress and winning the Gotham Award for Breakthrough Actor. At year's end, the National Board of Review and the American Film Institute each chose *Eighth Grade* as one of the top-ten films of 2018, with the former naming Burnham's film as the year's Best Directorial Debut.

## Plot

Eighth grader Kayla Day is in her final week at Miles Grove Middle School, a public school in a small New York town. She posts motivational vlogs on YouTube about confidence and self-image that receive few to no views. Timid and struggling to make friends at school, she is voted "Most Quiet" by her classmates. Meanwhile, her single father Mark struggles to connect with her and break her reliance on social media.

Kayla is invited to popular classmate Kennedy's pool party by Kennedy's mother. At the party, she has a panic attack in the bathroom but eventually goes outside to swim, where she meets Kennedy's nerdy cousin Gabe. After trying to leave early, she has an awkward encounter with her crush Aiden, who suggests that she rejoin the party. She overcomes her anxiety and volunteers to sing karaoke.

After hearing that Aiden broke up with his last girlfriend because she refused to send him nude photos of herself, Kayla lies to Aiden that she has a folder of explicit photos of herself on her phone, piquing his interest. He asks if she gives blowjobs; unsure of what to say, she says yes, but later looks up oral sex instructions online and is disgusted by what she finds.

Kayla meets a friendly senior named Olivia during a high school shadow program. Olivia shows Kayla around the school before sharing her number and inviting her to the mall with some friends. They have a good time, but Kayla spots her father spying from afar and orders him to leave, mortified. While Olivia's friend Riley is giving Kayla a ride home, he initiates an awkward game of truth or dare in which he asks about her sexual experience and takes off his shirt before encouraging her to remove hers. When she refuses, he angrily claims he was just trying to help her gain some sexual experience. Kayla breaks down at home and is comforted by Mark.

Kayla makes a video announcing that she intends to stop making videos, as she is not the person she pretends to be and feels unfit to give advice. She opens a time capsule she created for herself in sixth grade and watches a video in which her past self asks about her current friends and love life. After enlisting Mark's help in burning the time capsule, she asks if she makes him sad. He tells Kayla she fills him with pride and he could never be sad about her, prompting her to embrace him.

At graduation, Kayla rebukes Kennedy for acting indifferent towards Kayla's attempts at friendship. She later has dinner at Gabe's house, and they enjoy their time together. Kayla makes a new time capsule that she and Mark bury in the backyard, and leaves a video message for her future high school self, encouraging her to persevere through tough times.