7.8 | / 10 |
Users | 4.2 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.2 |
A teenager tries to survive the last week of her disastrous eighth-grade year before leaving to start high school.
Starring: Elsie Fisher, Emily Robinson, Josh Hamilton, Frank Deal, Jake Ryan (IX)Coming of age | 100% |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
BDInfo
English SDH, Spanish
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Digital copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (locked)
Movie | 5.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
We’re currently in this wonderful era where the wants and needs of adolescent girls are being represented honestly on the big screen. There was “Edge of Seventeen” and “Lady Bird,” and now “Eighth Grade,” which offers a snapshot of even younger concerns, but emerges as the most authentic of the group, which is no small feat. Writer/director Bo Burnham endeavors to capture the moment junior high wonder becomes high school hell, and he doesn’t miss a beat with this small but special picture. The helmer is making a comedy, but one with deep pathos and care for its lead character, who’s a uniquely positive creation despite suffering setbacks in mental health. Burnham avoids cliché in a remarkable way, preferring to dig his own groove of cinematic emphasis and rich characterization, giving audiences time with a typically unrepresented age, now free of Disney Channel glitter and Larry Clark grime.
The AVC encoded image (1.85:1 aspect ratio) presentation brings "Eighth Grade" to Blu-ray with the essentials intact, preserving the picture's sharp HD-shot look. Night and day extremes are handled well, with bright, crisp whites communicating the brightness of experiences and artificial lighting, while evening sequences manage delineation satisfactorily, only displaying slight milkiness at times. Detail is defined in full, with a full survey of skin surfaces, taking in Kayla's acne without hesitation, which helps the feature's quest for authenticity. School, mall, and suburban locations retain dimension. Colors are vibrant, with primaries holding real power through costuming and set decoration. Lighting also provides vivid hues, adding some Christmas bulbs and social media design to boost brightness. Mild posturization is found during some low-lit scenes.
The 5.1 DTS-HD MA sound mix offers a rich understanding of scoring cues, with waves of synth supporting the movie with precision and loudness, keeping their intended identification of emotional changes. Clarity is superb and fullness is welcome, creating circular environments to capture Kayla's headspace. Surrounds are also engaged with atmospherics, delivering particulars with school and mall bustle. Dialogue exchanges are clean and true, isolating Kayla's teenage pronunciation and Mark's softer concern. Group activity is also nicely arranged, contributing a sense of chaos as Kayla visits parties and gatherings.
"Eighth Grade" is filled with fine details and outstanding texture, with Kayla herself an ideal screen representation of teendom, complete with habitual hesitation and bad skin, with Fisher delivering a tremendous performance in perfect sync with Burnham's pure cinematic surges. The beauty of the picture is how much it rejects formula (touching on darkness when Kayla is confronted by an older boy), but isn't consumed with punishment. It offers a parent who's caring, not smothering, always trying to support his child despite her age-appropriate rejection of everything parental. And Kayla experiences multiple humiliations, but she's not destroyed by them, remaining a positive spirit who's trying to achieve her best self, just looking in the wrong places. "Eighth Grade" has style and confidence, but Burnham's attention to the nuances of adolescence and his respect for his lead character is downright thrilling, making a teen movie that's perfectly in step with the real thing.
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