Eighth Grade

Eighth Grade
2018 | R | 1Hr 33 Min | Drama | A24

Director: Bo Burnham

Writer: Bo Burnham

Stars: 

Elsie Fisher

Josh Hamilton

Emily Robinson

Synopsis:

An introverted teenage girl tries to survive the last week of her disastrous eighth-grade year before leaving to start high school.

I'm such a huge fan of independent cinema and A24 has knocked it out of the park lately. And with all that summer hype about Eight grade, it was one that we wanted to check out. Sadly this one fell short for us as we watched it as a family with our Eight-grader who even though it was just meh.

Having a teen that has struggled with school and friends for a few years now I was looking for this movie to be a real and eye-opening experience. Instead, I watched a movie that made my kid look normal clearing away our fears of what it is really like in the eighth grade. Elsie Fisher is fantastic as the teen going through an awkward stage in her life completely nailing every situation she faces. Eighth Grade is definitely a  cringe-inducing look at a teen’s awkward and anxious search for identity in a world dominated by social media but it does not invoke enough conversation that I had hoped.  

One of the big points of the movie that had many parents walking out (and keeping in place the R rating) was the talk about SEX. Gasp and shame on you as parents of a teen and thinking that this is not discussed amongst them. Come on wake up and take advantage of this opportunity to talk to your child. Yes, young boys are asking young girls to send Nudes! Thanks to social media the pressure is real so take the time to talk to them and let them know what is right and what is wrong. Even talk to the boys as mothers asking them the hard question, should they really be asking a girl to send a naked photo? And yes it was very uncomfortable as they talked about Oral Sex but that is the point of a movie like this.

Sadly tho throughout all of the awkward moments and a great cast Eight Grade falls a little short of great. It's well worth your time and does help move a conversation along with your kids, but again if you're shocked by any of this then your not listing to them, get involved! Do I put this on my top of 2018 list sadly no I liked it but I did not Love it. 

3 out of 5 Stars