Eighth Grade (2018)

Eighth Grade is a 2018 American coming-of-age comedy-drama film written and directed by Bo Burnham. It follows a teenager (Elsie Fisher) who struggles with anxiety but strives to gain social acceptance from her school peers during their final week of eighth grade, and copes by publishing apparently motivational vlogs despite spending much of her time obsessing over social media.

Burnham began writing the screenplay in 2014, initially in an attempt to reflect on his own anxiety and onstage panic attacks he experienced during his stand-up comedy career. Deciding to convey his experience through the protagonist, he also wanted to explore how her generation copes with mental illness, grows up with social media, navigates sexuality and consent, relates to their parents, and develops self-awareness. He aimed for realism, casting actual eighth graders—including Fisher—who influenced his writing and directing. For research, he watched vlogs from teenagers on YouTube, where he also discovered Fisher. On a budget of $2 million, the film was shot over one month in mid-2017 in the New York locations Suffern, West Nyack, and White Plains.

Eighth Grade premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival on January 19 and was given a wide theatrical release in the United States by A24 on July 13. The film was rated R by the MPAA; instead of appealing this decision, A24 and Burnham arranged free all-ages theatrical screenings in every U.S. state to let the intended audience see it.

The film was a critical and commercial success, grossing $13.5 million domestically. It earned numerous awards and nominations, with Burnham winning both Writers Guild and Directors Guild of America Awards, and Fisher being nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and winning the Gotham Award for Breakthrough Actor. The National Board of Review and the American Film Institute each named Eighth Grade as one of the 10 best films of 2018, with the former also naming it the year's best directorial debut.