A painfully accurate, empathetic coming-of-age film that captures the awkwardness, isolation, and self-consciousness of early adolescence with unusual honesty. Its humor is gentle but the emotional sting is real, and the filmmaking makes everyday teenage anxiety feel cinematic.
Thirteen-year-old Kayla endures the tidal wave of contemporary suburban adolescence as she makes her way through the last week of middle school — the end of her thus far disastrous eighth grade year — before she begins high school.
Director
Bo Burnham
Production
A24, Scott Rudin Productions, IAC Films
Cast
Elsie Fisher, Josh Hamilton, Emily Robinson, Jake Ryan, Daniel Zolghadri, Fred Hechinger, Imani Lewis, Luke Prael, Catherine Oliviere, Nora Mullins, Gerald Jones, Missy Yager, Shacha Temirov, Greg Crowe, Thomas J O'Reilly, Frank Deal, J. Tucker Smith, Tiffany Grossfeld, Trinity Goscinsky-Lynch, Natalie Carter
Curator Review
Verdict
A painfully accurate, empathetic coming-of-age film that captures the awkwardness, isolation, and self-consciousness of early adolescence with unusual honesty. Its humor is gentle but the emotional sting is real, and the filmmaking makes everyday teenage anxiety feel cinematic.
Best for
Viewers who like intimate, realistic coming-of-age stories
Anyone who remembers middle school as socially brutal
Fans of awkward comedy with sincere emotional payoff
Parents or educators looking for a truthful teen portrait
Skip if
You want a broad, joke-heavy teen comedy
You prefer fast pacing and big plot turns
Secondhand embarrassment is hard for you
You’re looking for a glossy or nostalgic high-school fantasy
Overview
Eighth Grade is one of the sharpest portraits of adolescence in recent memory because it refuses to romanticize it. Kayla’s world is full of tiny humiliations, half-formed confidence, and the constant pressure to perform a version of herself that feels acceptable online and in person. The result is funny, but the laughter is always edged with recognition and discomfort.
Worth noting
What makes it stand out is the film’s patience with small moments: a look, a pause, a phone scroll, a car ride that feels like a battlefield. It understands that middle school is often less about dramatic events than about the daily effort to survive being perceived. That specificity gives the movie its emotional force.
Bottom line
The film also has a real tenderness beneath the cringe. It doesn’t mock Kayla or the people around her; it sees how hard everyone is trying, even when they fail. By the end, the movie feels less like a memory than a bruise that has finally started to heal.
Top Letterboxd reviews
#1 gizmo fan (5★) · 9859 likes
The car scene broke me into a trillion pieces. It tore me down, ripped me of my skin and then let me bleed. But after the movie was over, it bandaged me and I could breathe. I've been where she was. The youngest one in the room, left alone with some guy way older and way stupider. When you're 13, you never really say what you want until you've been taken to your line. You agree and agree and agree,… more
cathy (4.5★) · 9140 likes
Kayla: gucci! 👌 me (through tears): gucci 👌
demi adejuyigbe (5★) · 7714 likes
three (non-spoilery) thoughts from a second viewing: 1) the final scene of this movie is maybe my favorite scene of any movie released this year 2) there’s a scene where kayla is walking around and talking nervously on the phone, shot in a mid-close up with the camera following her as she walks back and forth, passing a big window. when she passes the window, the light shining through is like a sudden, disorienting flash, and when combined with the constant… more
sophie (4.5★) · 6404 likes
the fact that someone shouts "lebron james" more than once in this shows how true to real life it is