85
Metascore
49 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 91IndieWireKate ErblandIndieWireKate ErblandAt every turn, Fisher is honest and open, relatable to the point that you feel as if you’re actually watching her own life play out.
- 83The PlaylistJordan RuimyThe PlaylistJordan RuimyFisher must be given immense credit for making it all work as her performance is pitch-perfect in every respect. Sometimes, it feels like you’re not even watching an actress perform but an actual person. The way Burnham shot some of the scenes makee it feel like non-fiction rather than fiction.
- 83The A.V. ClubA.A. DowdThe A.V. ClubA.A. DowdWhat makes this coming-of-age film special is that it’s at once harsh and humanist: a perceptive, realistic comedy about tweenage life that’s also rich in compassion, that scarcest of junior-high commodities.
- 80The Hollywood ReporterLeslie FelperinThe Hollywood ReporterLeslie FelperinNewcomer Elsie Fisher offers a breakout performance.
- 80Time OutJoshua RothkopfTime OutJoshua RothkopfEighth Grade is lovely work, lifted up by a timeless piece of indie wisdom: Keep it real, as cringe-inducing as that can be.
- 75The Film StageJordan RaupThe Film StageJordan RaupOne of Eighth Grade‘s greatest strengths is its specificity related to the current generation.
- 70New York Magazine (Vulture)Emily YoshidaNew York Magazine (Vulture)Emily YoshidaEighth Grade is cognizant of all the new scary realities of growing up with an internet-connected camera on your person at all times, but it also finds hope in it, as, if nothing else, a tool for self-discovery.
- 70VarietyPeter DebrugeVarietyPeter DebrugeEighth Grade shines as, like, a totally spot-on, you know, portrait of Millennial angst and stuff. That may be how Kayla (and all her peers) talk...but Burnham shows a sociolinguist’s ear for the cadence and flow of 21st-century girl-speak, and Fisher...delivers his dialogue so naturally, you’d swear she’s making it up as she goes along.
- 70Village VoiceBilge EbiriVillage VoiceBilge EbiriEighth Grade rejects predictable plot points and instead lives on the electric edge of awkwardness and uncertainty and doubt that represents the middle school experience; you never quite know what’s going to happen to Kayla, and that feels right.
- 50Screen DailyAnthony KaufmanScreen DailyAnthony KaufmanWhile Eighth Grade may look, on its surface, like a typical adolescent comedy, with its underdog protagonist pitted against popular girls and boy crushes, it is more a piquant series of vignettes that form a singular and focused portrait of youthful angst.