Social anxiety runs at a near-intolerable pitch in Eighth Grade, Bo Burnham’s marvellous portrait of a confused American girl about to leave middle school.

Eighth Grade
Director: Bo Burnham

Social anxiety runs at a near-intolerable pitch in Eighth Grade, Bo Burnham’s marvellous portrait of a confused American girl about to leave middle school. This would be Kayla (Elsie Fisher, pictured) who’s just been voted “most quiet” by her fellow eighth-graders and can barely get through a day without some mortifying reminder of her insignificance.

Cursed with an adolescent’s unsettled complexion and puppy fat, Kayla retreats to her bedroom to post YouTube videos on “being yourself” and “how to be confident”. Her “likes” are in the low single digits. Even her hopeful sign-off – “Gucci!” – could break your heart.

If you’ve ever wondered how a shy 13-year-old copes with being thrown in at the deep end of our digital age, this film should be your priority. Yet it’s also a larger picture about loneliness, about the struggle to connect in a world that barely acknowledges you. At night Kayla lies in bed, her face bathed in the glow from the light of her smartphone, scrolling through so much celebrity junk it could make your eyeballs fry.

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