Review of Eighth Grade: C-

Although drama movies are not my main genre, I do still thoroughly enjoy them. I like a good cry sometimes, or to really feel a movie hit you in the gut, or question who you are or how you view the world. From the raving reviews I've read and heard about Eighth Grade, I assumed I was in for some of what I love. That just didn't end up being the case.

Eighth Grade is a story about a young adolescent girl's last week of middle-school (for us here in Canada, Public School eighth grade) and the trials and tribulations that come with that, or so the synopsis would have you think. It is about the last week of school, but the girl really doesn't go through a whole lot. She's not ridiculed in school or in public, she's not beaten, abused, neglected, forgotten. Sure, she's an outcast, but she's not even bullied in school. There are two different times throughout the movie that I said to myself, "Ah here we go. Something is finally going to happen," then, nothing did. She simply was allowed out of the situation without real consequences.

There was really no drama in this movie. Sure, it might be an accurate depiction of how an 12 or 13-year-old might be viewing the world, but that isn't what call entertaining at all. The movie really felt like the underlining message was "Don't let your kids use technology so much". There were many, many scenes where that is all the movie shows; the girl scrolling through her phone.

Sure, they do depict that the girl has low self-esteem, and try to show how she attempts to overcome her usual limitations, to no avail I might add. There are pieces of humor through the movie, but only sprinkled in here and there, and no rolling on the ground laughing, more like, "Ha that was funny eh?"

Overall, myself and my girlfriend were bored for most of the movie. I kept wondering when something was going to happen. I found the characters forgettable (I don't even know the main characters name right now), the scenes bland and the content its-self very dry. Again, this may be an accurate portrayal of how 13-year-olds look at the world, and the acting wasn't terrible, there just wasn't anything to get excited about here.

Overall score: 4 out of 10 stars

Pros:
- Humor was good
- No graphic violence or coarse language so children could view it

Cons:
- No real plot
- Slow moving
- No real drama
- No action at all

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