I usually find coming of age films to be formulaic and unimaginative, but Eighth Grade had me hook, line, and sinker the whole time.

Bo Burnham's narrative feature debut finds humor and hope in a painfully realistic middle school story.

Elsie Fisher makes Eighth Grade a triumphant manifesto for all who have felt awkward, misunderstood and abused at a time when they just wanted to be cheered.

Eighth Grade is a brilliantly raw, honest portrayal about the middle school experience.

Bo Burnham's directorial debut is a marvelous subversion of expectations.

[Elsie] Fisher is a real find, wielding the character's roller-coaster mood swings and open-wound insecurities with bravery and wit, and the supporting roles are equally convincing.

This film is incredibly painful because the story is told well and hits so close to home that at certain points it will have you in tears, or make you cringe in your seat.

Eighth Grade is an insular film, teasing out larger observations about the confluence of awkward and unfamiliar territory.

Burnham thankfully never loses sight of the belief that things truly can get better if you want them to.

By its moving bonfire conclusion, the entire press screening I attended was weeping. Such is the power of Eighth Grade, the achingly true-to-life filmmaking debut of Bo Burnham.

Caustic, hilarious, and wonderfully effective, Burnham's Eighth Grade may drum up anxious feelings long buried, but it does so with a wit and intelligence that's unbeatable.

Burnham's accomplished debut offers plenty for viewers of all ages, along with a filmmaking vision that is well beyond many of his comedy peers.

... a simultaneously harrowing and sweet look at early adolescence.

For the life of me, I don't understand how writer-director Bo Burnham tapped into the psyche of an eighth-grade girl, but somehow he did.

It keeps threatening to become a cringe-fest, but pulls back, as Burnham opts instead for something more human and realistic. There's a lived-in wisdom in the film.