Eighth Grade reviews: 'Captures youth like NO OTHER film' – what do critics say?

Eight Grade tells the story of “thirteen-year-old Kayla who 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.” Speaking to USA Today about the movie, Burnham said: “I wanted to talk about anxiety and what it feels like to be alive right now, and what it is to be unsure and nervous. That felt more like middle school than high school to me. I think the country and the culture is going through an eighth-grade moment right now.”

What do critics say about Eighth Grade?

The Rotten Tomatoes critics’ consensus reads: “Eighth Grade takes a look at its titular time period that offers a rare and resounding ring of truth while heralding breakthroughs for writer-director Bo Burnham and captivating star Elsie Fisher.”

Burnham’s coming of age story gets a resounding 99 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Naomi Fry for the New Yorker:

In addition to its queasy verisimilitude, “Eighth Grade” offers acute observations on how social media and the language of self-care have warped teen life.

Ann Hornaday for the Washington Post:

Burnham is clearly conflicted about the emotional effects of the constant comparisons, competitions and invidious voyeurism young people are subjecting themselves to nearly all day long. And he gets the subjective experience right.

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Sara Stewart for New York Post:

Writer-director Bo Burnham, in his feature debut, skillfully intertwines the timeless aspects of adolescent humiliation and the very particular ways in which today’s tech has changed them.

Sheila O’Malley for RogerEbert.com:

Eighth Grade is so grounded in the reality of middle school it almost operates like a horrible collective flashback.

Hannah Woodhead for Little White Lies

Many filmmakers have tried and failed to do what Burnham’s achieved in this remarkable debut.

Mara Reinstein for Us Weekly:

Every moment drips with aching – and, at times, heart-swelling – authenticity. The heart-swelling is where the ugly cry kicks in.

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Manohla Dargis for the New York Times:

Eighth Grade is a simple story of an unremarkable girl, tenderly and movingly told.

Dana Stevens for Slate:

A deeply kind movie, curious and nonjudgmental even about the characters who in most coming-of-age films would be hissable villains.

Moira MacDonald for the Seattle Times:

Fisher delivers a glorious symphony of awkward poignancy, from Kayla’s cringe-worthy attempts to chat up a popular girl to her ultimately sweet connection with her kind, befuddled single dad.

Kate Erbland for indieWire:

Eighth Grade isn’t a documentary, but it hews as close to the modern coming-of-age experience as currently seems possible.

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Leslie Felperin for the Hollywood Reporter:

The kind of comedy that hipper parents might just be able to watch with their own offspring and enjoy.

Emily Yoshida for New York Magazine/Vulture:

Burnham has tapped into a byproduct of social-media-saturated adolescence that’s often overlooked in favour of parental panic and worst-case-scenario horror stories.

Christy Lemire for What the Flick?!

I was just surprised over and over again at how deeply touching it is while seeming effortlessly so.

Eighth Grade is out in UK cinemas on April 26, 2019.