A24 A-to-Z:#69. "Eighth Grade" (2018)

Scene from Eighth Grade (2018)

In case you didn't know, A24 is one of the great purveyors of modern cinema. Since 2013, the studio has found a way to innovate independent cinema by turning each release into an event. As a result, A24 A-to-Z will be an ongoing series that looks at every release from the studio by analyzing its production history, release, criticisms, and any awards attention that it might've received. Join me on a quest to explore the modern heroes of cinema by exploring every hit and miss that comes with that magnificent logo. They may not all be great, but they more than make A24 what it is and what it will hopefully continue to be for years to come.

Review: "Eighth Grade" Finds the Comedic Heart of Wanting to Be Accepted

Elsie Fisher in Eighth Grade

In the opening scene of director Bo Burnham's Eighth Grade, Kayla (Elsie Fisher) stares into the camera, distorting her image with pixelation as she espouses tips on how to be a better person. But here's the question: how does a middle-class, socially awkward kid know what's best for the world? Throughout the course of the comedy, there's an exploration of self that delves into the typical awkward phases of childhood, especially on the cusp of the highly romanticized high school years, and wonders how anyone knows anything. With the adults poorly using contemporary slang such as "lit" and "dabbing," the film already feels like a miscommunication, that nobody could understand Kayla. So how then can she expect people to understand her views on how to be a confident person through YouTube videos, of which reach a tragically low amount of people? The answer is one of the most painstaking, honest, and funny comedies of the summer that finds a way to take characters who do nothing but look at phones and find their inner humanity.