Eighth Grade

It turns out that eighth grade is still the worst, but what sets Burnham’s first film apart from the myriad of coming-of-age cringe-fests is its low-key, lived-in attitude towards teen insecurity.

Gone are the melodramatic tropes of cafeteria cruelty, mean girls and humiliation and in their place lies an examination of social media as a contradictory weapon against shyness and loneliness. By depicting an audience of peers that are far too self-absorbed to be proactively cruel or even notice each other, this comedy finds its laughs in the familiar and real paradox of teenage social politics.