Just saw "Eight Grade", another in a line of recent quality teenager coming of age movies about misunderstood self conscious kids trying to navigate their time in school that have come across my way the last few years. No question that it is a well done film. Still, while their is definitely quality to it, I find that at least for me it isn't on the same level as such films as "Perks of Being a Wallflower", "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl", and "Lady Bird", the best recent examples of this genre, or for that matter "Edge of Seventeen" and "A Birders Guide to Everything", both of which are a step or two below the other three movies mentioned beforehand. The focus in "Eighth Grade is very much solely on the lead character with little else to get in the way of this laser like attention, with little else to divert your attention to the lead character. Still, if you are into watching films about overly self conscious teens in the process of growing up, I would say this is probably worth your time.
