Eighth Grade

Capturing the effects of social media on suburban adolescence, filmmaker Bo Burnham’s perceptive dramedy focuses on one angst-ridden girl’s last week in middle school. Shy, lonely 13-year-old Kayla Day (Elsie Fisher) spends most of her waking hours on her iPhone. She’s either checking out Instagram/Snapchat or making YouTube videos, offering advice to a non-existent audience. “You have to put yourself out there,” she says, “but where is ‘there’?” Although Kayla claims to be “funny and cool and talkative,” her classmates just voted her “most quiet.” Awkwardly vulnerable and painfully insecure, Kayla yearns to be popular and attract the attention of one particular boy (Luke Prael) in her class. The highlight of Kayla’s existence comes when she’s paired with exuberant Olivia (Emily Robinson) on the day that middle-schoolers “shadow” a high-schooler. When Olivia kindly invites her to join pals at the mall that night, Kayla’s content to just sit and watch, listening to their prattle. But as Olivia’s friend (Daniel Zolghadri) drives Kayla home, he challenges her to a game of Truth or Dare, and mortified Kayla realizes that she’s way out of her depth. During this emotionally agonizing period of her life, Kayla is cared for by her loving single dad (Josh Hamilton), who does his best to adjust to her inexplicable mood swings. Perhaps the 21st-century takeaway is that while social media increases anxiety, you must learn to control it, instead of letting it overwhelm your self-esteem. Highly recommended. (S. Granger)