Ah, middle school. That crucible of adolescent life straddling the divide between the sugary, innocent and carefree days of childhood and the more serious physical, social, and mental developments of high school (that other crucible of adolescent life). Herein boys and girls become . . . uh, slightly older boys and girls, and because human society has a truly alarming belief in the virtue of social bonds, it was long ago decided that the best way to shepherd all those mischievous scamps into the next phase of their life was to dump them all together in a big ol’ building and spend eight hours each day having depressed, underpaid and overworked men and women talk at them about how to multiply watermelon, what Gettysburg’s address is, and what kind of a house the mitochondria lives in. Or something like that. But shoving all those hormone machines together into rooms of varying size and resemblances to black site interrogation chambers is good for more than creating or exacerbating the odd nervous disorder, it could be a setting for quite the interesting, charming, and heartwarming movie, and Eighth Grade is all of those and more. Whether you’re a social butterfly who looks back at the friends and fun of middle school with a soft smile or your name is Elliot Magalhães, Bo Burnham’s 2018 directorial debut empathetically depicting shy, awkward Kayla in her last days of the titular education level is moving and inspiring, and today you will have the pleasure(?) of listening to two weirdos talk about it, exchange lighthearted barbs masking deep-seated childhood resentments, and create strained ties to other movies that you could also watch. Let’s dive in!
