Eighth Grade      4 ½ stars

Yet another movie I heard about at Sundance was Eighth Grade, a realistic portrayal of what it is like for teenagers in middle school now.  The movie follows a few days in the life of Kayla, a thirteen year old facing the end of eighth grade, a girl who seemingly has few friends, is awkward, yet has hopes for her future as a high schooler.  The movie is made by the performance of young Elsie Fisher, who plays the role in a honest way.  Other movies have tried to tackle this subject but are typically either comedies or deal wish much more serious subjects like suicide or drug use.  This film seems so real it could almost be a documentary.  The director, Bo Burnham appears to be an unknown up to now.  Josh Hamilton as the father also is notable as he shows that he is truly concerned about his daughter’s well being, but is frustrated by how hard it is to communicate with her.  Like any film today dealing with social habits of teenagers there is a great deal of time devoted to the use of social media, something that is permanently with us I am afraid.  The film is only an hour and a half long. I urge you to see it if you get the chance.