Eighth Grade Dvd

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 middle school teenager 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 stemming from his career as a comedian. Deciding to convey his experience through Kayla, he also wanted to explore how her generation copes with mental illness, grow with the presence of social media, navigate sexuality and consent, relate to their parents and develop 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 small $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 to more easily see it.

Upon release, the film was a critical and commercial success. Burnham’s writing, direction and Fisher’s performance drew the most praise from critics, while domestic box office sales topped $13.5 million. 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 years’ 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

Kayla Day is an eighth grader in her final week at Miles Grove Middle School, a public school in the state of New York. She posts motivational videos on YouTube about confidence and self-image that get little to no views. Nervous and struggling to make friends at school, she is voted “Most Quiet” by her classmates. Meanwhile, Mark, her single father, struggles to connect with her and break her reliance on social media.

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

Hearing that Aiden broke up with his last girlfriend because she refused to send him nude photos, Kayla tells Aiden that she has a dirty photos folder on her phone, a fabricated story that piques his interest. He asks if she gives blowjobs, and unsure of what to answer, she says she does. She later looks up oral sex instructions online and is disgusted.

Kayla attends a high school shadow program, where she meets Olivia, a friendly senior who shows her around the high school. Olivia gives Kayla her number, and she later invites Kayla to the mall with some of her friends. They have a good time, though Kayla spots her father spying from afar and, mortified, orders him to leave. Olivia’s friend Riley gives Kayla a ride home from the mall. He initiates an awkward game of truth or dare where he asks about her sexual experience, takes off his shirt, and asks her to remove hers. She refuses, and he backs off, angrily claiming he was just trying to help her gain some experience. Kayla breaks down at home and is comforted by her father. She 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.

Kayla then opens a time capsule she created for herself in sixth grade. She watches a video she made where her past self asks questions about her current friends and love life. She asks her dad to help her burn the time capsule and asks if she makes him sad. He says that she fills him with pride and he could never be sad about her, and she hugs him tightly.

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

Cast

The cast includes:

Elsie Fisher as Kayla Day
Josh Hamilton as Mark Day
Emily Robinson as Olivia
Catherine Oliviere as Kennedy Graves
Jake Ryan as Gabe
Luke Prael as Aiden Wilson
Daniel Zolghadri as Riley
Fred Hechinger as Trevor
Imani Lewis as Aniyah