It's the last week of eighth grade as we meet our heroine, Kayla, a shy albeit sweet single child living with her father. Her time is spent as most tweens spend their time: face down in their phones, scrolling through instagram and selecting the best snapchat filter for their selfies. It's a social world that is almost entirely cut off from reality. When Kayla tries to talk to the popular girl and her friend, there's not a single exchange of glances. At the dinner table, Kayla further uses earphones to block out her dorky dad and his "boring" conversations.
The film uses a web series created by Kayla to bookend her journey - a small self-help youtube series that seemingly has no followers and definitely no views. She stumbles through her scripted talking points like "how to be yourself" and "how to be brave," while in reality she awkwardly stumbles by, fantasizing about the hot boys and cool girls that always seem to evade her friend circle. The film doesn't follow a linear plot so much as it charts Kayla's goals: get a best friend, get a boyfriend, start over fresh in high school.
I have to wrack my brain to try and think of other films that deal with middle schoolers, and even harder for ones that do it with such delicacy and grace. For an older generation, this film might reinforce the notion that kids these days are lazy, unmotivated, but for younger people this might be a sort of revelatory glance at what our culture has become and how silly it can all seem. I missed a few chances to view this film with a Burnham Q&A afterwards, and having finally seen it, I might ask him how he came to settle on a female hero, what his grade school life was like, and whether or not he was a social misfit as is Kayla. There is so much truth in the writing and in the way these kids talk to each other. Bo Burnham is either a gifted creator or is attuned to the current generational trends... Or both.
I admire Burnham's use of music to drive the narrative. There are jarring musical cues that reminded me of Alexander Payne's "Election" in how the sound of a familiar theme can invoke laughter. The opening titles are a whirlwind of electronic sounds that are so disjointed and jarring but ultimately feel right when fitting with the themes. The film also uses great visual language and cinematography to capture the mood of isolation among a crowded school. The camera slowly follows Kayla as she roams the halls, framing her as though she is all alone in her head. I was also struck by a scene in the backseat of a car that uses shadow and the unseen so effectively that it became one of the more tense moments in any movie this year.
Perhaps the film doesn't 100% understand how Kayla's mind works - after all she is a shy girl and yet time and again is seen confronting bullies and standing up for herself. It's nice to see a young girl so sure, but I had a hard time believing that she was inspired solely by her own youtube channel. We can feel Bo Burnham's rough style as he is developing a voice behind the camera, but with a debut so strong, I can't help but wonder what greatness he has coming next.
Let me just end on a positive note by touching on the characters of Kayla's father (Josh Hamilton) and Gabe, a boy she meets at a pool party. The film climaxes with a jaw-dropping scene next to a firepit in which Kayla's dad explains all the ways he loves his daughter. Sure, it's beautiful, but another review I read aptly compared it to Michael Stuhlbarg's final monologue in "Call Me By Your Name" just last year. I couldn't help but see the power in both speeches, scene-stealers in every way and all in the quietest of moments. Tell me that this isn't one of the great fathers in recent movies. In such confusing times for a child, having a parent who does nothing but offer their love and support is all the more beautiful. It's the film's best scene by far. Then compare it to this boy Kayla meets, a dorky boy named Gabe. At first, he is an awkward character who challenges her to see who can hold their breath longer, but by the end there is a first date over chicken nuggets that I found as magical and charming and adorable as any adolescent romance I can imagine. For a girl so caught up in her head, here are two guys who clearly see her as one in a million. In the end, that's all it takes. This is a wonderful movie.
*On a side note, this movie is rated R for reasons unknown. To think that this rating will prevent middle schoolers from seeing this movie is unfortunate.
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