Bo Burnham digs deep with memories of Eighth Grade
I think there’s a thirteen-year-old girl in all of us. At least, there is if my reaction to Eighth Grade, a new film by comedian Bo Burnham, is any indication. It’s true that there might be some personal history at play in the way I identify with young Kayla Day, the eponymous hero of the film.
I spend around 180 days a year amongst girls just like her and for three to five very rough years had one of my own haunting the bedrooms and hallways of my house. I doubt I’ve laughed harder at anything this year than the dinner scene where Kayla’s father tries desperately to talk to his teenage daughter only to be continually shut down because I saw remember watching the exact scene play out in my living room on a nightly basis.
All I wanted to do was watch TV. This is where the strength of the film lies. It is so real, so exact, so honest, that it at times doesn’t feel like a movie at all.
For those my age, it feels like a buried memory, one that isn’t unwelcome exactly, but unpleasant at the same time. Everyone has felt like Kayla. Everyone has endured the unendurable and come out the other side.
A bildungsroman of this type isn’t uncommon in Hollywood—remember last year’s LadyBird—but Eighth Grade feels fresh and new. This is due to Burnham’s careful characterization of Kayla and his commitment to showing her as she is, not as how she would want to be portrayed.
We see flashes of her online persona, where she makes self-help videos about confidence and self-acceptance, neither of which she practices very well in her personal life.
Kayla knows who she wants to be, and believes she knows the steps that will help her achieve those goals, but she is wracked with the self-doubt and social fears that every experiences to some degree, though Kayla seems to have it much worse.
She is still in the early stages of dealing with what may be a lifetime struggle. This film is very personal and intense, focusing on Kayla the way she focuses on herself, the way we all did when we were her age. The film employs tracking shots of her walking, slouch in full view.
The audience sees Kayla try to make herself small, eyes cast downward, hoping to avoid conversations and become part of the scenery. This is, of course, at odds with her inner thoughts, which we see in her videos, in her hundreds of positive post-it reminders surrounding her mirrors, and in her at times inexplicable attempts to connect with her fellow classmates.
Some of the happiest points of the film are when she succeeds in the small goals she sets out for herself. Her genuine happiness at having a hallway conversation is magical to watch.
Much like newcomer Boots Riley, Bo Burnham doesn’t have many film credits. He’s known mostly for his stand-up comedy, rising to fame as a YouTwube star in 2006. He’s acted in a few television shows and movies, written for a few more, and directed a couple of comedy specials.
Eighth Grade is his first feature, and just like Riley, it’s clear that he is an impressive creative force. The film is polished and artful. In addition, I can’t say enough about the performance of Elsie Fisher as Kayla. She embodies the role so completely that it’s hard to see where she ends and Kayla begins. It genuine and honest acting on a level that many adults never achieve.
Maybe she plays the part so well because she’s so close to Kayla’s age and experience, which is another reason the film works so well. All of the actors are age appropriate, a rarity in Hollywood. But I’d rather believe that Fisher is just that good. Either way, she deserves as much recognition as the industry can muster.
At the end of the film, I wanted to tell Kayla that pool parties get easier, but even at 36, I dread them. I still want to fade into the background. I still want to avoid conversations. I still have that nauseated feeling in the pit of my stomach. Some things never really change. For girls like Kayla, I still hope that they do.