“When we first meet Kayla Day, the introverted protagonist of Eighth Grade, she directly faces the camera, serving up advice to middle school peers she hopes are viewing her self-improvement vlog. Kayla stumbles and rambles nervously, filling her sentences with ‘uhms’ and jumping gracelessly from point to point. Director/writer Bo Burnham instantly shows us that his middle graders will not speak the way kids often do in other coming of age movies or TV shows. He resists making his youthful characters sound like witty pop culture-spewing mini-screenwriters. Kayla must sound like a real honest to goodness eighth grader who has a lot on her mind, but lacks the confidence to say things with commanding authority. And this approach works thanks in great part to the casting of the captivating and very real Elsie Fisher as Kayla.
“Just look at how Fisher plays the vlog scenes. Nothing she does feels forced. She somehow makes the stilted monologues sound improvised and fresh.
“After Kayla signs off with her signature, awkward ‘Gucci,’ we see her In Real Life, living with her lonely single parent dad (the terrific, underrated Josh Hamilton) and trying to connect with the other students in school. Fisher makes every glance and attempt to fit in with her schoolmates painfully raw and yet relatable. Fisher's Kayla reminds all of us about our needy Eighth Grade selves. Watch her attempts to join in conversations with the more popular kids. Fisher's timing is absolutely expert in those moments. She also gives a great physical performance: slouched shoulders, that defeated walk, those averted eyes. Fisher helps the viewer experience everything Kayla feels--mostly frustration, social anxiety, fear, getting lost while surfing the web while hoping for likes, clicks, and shares (the way most people do on social media--eighth grade or not).
“Yet Fisher also proves she has great comic timing throughout. Her stink-eyed annoyance when her dad keeps interrupting her endless screen-time with his dad jokes. The way she flips with delight when a high school girl calls her and asks if she wants to hang out. Her nervous enjoyment of a dorky date with the equally awkward Gabe (Jake Ryan from Moonrise Kingdom), laughing over Rick and Morty while munching on fries--one of my favorite scenes from any 2018 film, There's a scene towards the end that truly shows how special Eighth Grade and Elsie Fisher's work in it are. It's eighth grade graduation and Kayla decides to tell someone off. At first we think it will be the boy she had a crush on but turned out to be creepy (hopefully guys will watch this movie and learn lessons about how not to behave). No, she storms up to the mean spoiled popular girl who treated her badly and tells her off. Burnham does not give her a brilliantly penned speech filled with verbal wit. No, Kayla still rambles, avoiding eye contact...but with a greater sense of confidence nonetheless. After Kayla finishes, she walks back to her spot in line, a smile on her face. Nailed it!
“In Eighth Grade, Elsie Fisher brings many dimensions and nuance to the role of Kayla Day. At the end when she faces the camera and gives her future self advice for a school project, we see her radiating pride, and know that the lessons she has learned are ones of self-worth and self-preservation (and rediscovered love for her father, who is just as emotionally needy and lost as Kayla). Fisher glows at the end. And we need to see her like this after such a roller coaster ride of emotion and discomfort. Elsie Fisher gives an outstanding performance with seemingly effortless ease; her performance easily joining the list of great performances given by a young film talent.” ~ Brian Wilson
This year’s “nominees:”
Elsie Fisher - Eighth Grade
Kairi Jô - Shoplifters
Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie - Leave No Trace
Miyu Sasaki - Shoplifters
Milly Shapiro - Hereditary
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