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Review: Eighth Grade (2018)
This was a pretty good movie. I went into it only knowing that it was a more grounded take on middle school students in America, and that the mvoie was by Bo Burnham (who I don't know anything about except that he's a comedian).
I liked that this movie was realistic. It was short and to the point, but not necessarily shocking, and that was probably because our main character Kayla is portrayed as a very average kid in today's modern world.
I would definitely recommend this movie.
Spoilers.
Story
The story focused on Kayla, an eighth grader, as she finished out her last week of middle school and proceeded onto high school. Kayla was a teenager of the current age. What I mean by that is that this movie was released in 2018 and Kayla was a teenager from 2018.
Kayla was overly involved in social media, despite the fact that from what we could see, she didn't have a lot of friends at school. This is a discussion for another day, but while my generation grew up alongside social media, Kayla's generation already had a fully fledged social media by the time they were old enough to get cell phones (which was quite young, seeing as how Kayla said she got Snapchat when she was in fifth grader).
I wouldn't say that this movie focused on any single thing, but it was just about Kayla learning to become more comfortable with herself. She struggled to find people she got along with everywhere she went, from the cool girls at school, her crush, the older kids from high school, and sometimes even her dad.
Kayla didn't necessarily come to any epiphany that gave her the courage to be who she wanted to be. It was just a series of small events that caused her to make small changes in her life and little by little, she was able to carve a place that was more welcoming for herself.
Production
Acting
The acting was definitely a major selling point of this movie. All the kids were just so awkward, and it didn't feel forced at all. In fact, I found that the acting was more difficult to believe in from the cooler kids such as Kennedy and Steph.
The conversations between the middle schoolers were awkward, but not in the way that's meant to induce a laugh. They're just...awkward. Because that's how middle schoolers are like. They're still developing their sense of self. We saw the contrast between Kayla and her schoolmates vs. Olivia and her friends. Teenagers go through a lot of change and middle school is still an early stage of that transformation.
Social media
I liked that this movie knew what it was doing with regards to social media. It didn't try to create clones of popular social media platforms. Kayla was very clearly using Instagram, Twitter, Youtube, etc. and not some weird clones, and made her feel more realistic.
Characters
Kayla
Kayla was our central character. I think a lot of introverted kids could relate to her. Social media is often an escape for lonely kids, to help them feel like they're among friends when they're alone in real life.
Kayla had a love-hate relationship with the cool girls at school. She kind of stayed way from them probably because they intimidated her, and that was why she wasn't going to go to the pool party. She'd only gone to the party when her dad made her. And she did not have a good time. She wasn't part of Kennedy's in-crowd, and Kennedy made no effort to make her feel included. I'm not putting this entirely on Kennedy because she was literally 14 years old, but she definitely didn't help. Kayla made an attempt to befriend Kennedy but nothing really came out of that.
At the end of the movie, Kayla confronted Kennedy about being mean to her. While Kennedy wasn't the sole reason for Kayla's loneliness, Kennedy, as the school's "cool kid," held a lot of social authority, and her being so outwardly dismissive of Kayla didn't help her. If Kennedy was more civil, that would've been better because at least she was polite, but Kennedy wasn't polite in the least.
Kayla had a crush on Aiden, who reportedly was a dick, but that didn't stop her. Apparently Aiden had sexual demands and Kayla tried to live up to them, but she didn't even end up talking to him much other than that time they were practising the drill in case there was a gun shooting drill.
At the end of the movie, when Aiden passed by Kayla, we thought that Kayla was going to follow after him to confess, but instead she ended up confronting Kennedy. I liked that this happened, not specifically in the sense of "yeah! boys are stinky!" but in the sense that Kayla had more important things going on for her. Namely, her isolation and alienation were far bigger issues for her than her current lack of a love life. Kennedy was hurting her far more than Aiden's lack of interest was.
Kayla had a mentor figure in Olivia, which was really nice. Olivia saw that Kayla was lonely and had low self-esteem and tried to cheer her up by inviting her. Kayla had a really fun time, even if she was just sitting and listening.
However, things took a turn when Riley was driving her home and made sexual advances towards her. The thing was, Riley framed them claiming that he was just helping her out, which shows how young Riley was too, but that was beside the point. From that entire experience, I think Kayla learned about her sexual boundaries, but also that people who seem really cool can be just as shitty. She thought that all of Olivia's friends were cool, but during their hangout she saw that they all had flaws.
Kayla had a typical teenager relationship with her dad. It was especially tough because he was a single parent, so there was no one to help him when Kayla was pushing him away. As an adult, I definitely appreciated her dad's sincere attempts to get to know her, but Kayla didn't want her dad anywhere in her life.
I get it, Kayla's at an age where it's super uncool to even acknowledge that you have parents. But the fact of the matter is, Kayla's dad was the one person who probably knew Kayla the best. He may not know anything about social media, or what the in-crowds are at school, but he could see when she was not feeling happy, because at least Kayla never had to hide her moods and feelings from her.
In the end, Mark reached out to Kayla to let her know that he was always there for her, and I think that was a comfort because Kayla will move on to high school, might find some new friends, but her dad will always be there at home for her.
Of course, the actress was very well cast. I looked her up and she would've been 15 years old when this movie was released, which is far closer to an actual eighth grader lol. She was very good at portraying a nervous eighth grader. Despite how eloquent I thought I was in my head as a teenager, I would've been just as nervous as she was, saying a lot of "like," "you know," etc. in her vidoes.
The movie ended with Kayla making a new time capsule video for herself for the end of high school. With regards to the time capsule, I think Kayla was upset with the video she made at the beginning of middle school because she hadn't achieved any of the things that she'd originally set out to do. But when she recorded her second time capsule video, we saw how her attitudes had changed. She'd realized that for one, it is very hard to plan so far ahead. In addition, she realized that what's important isn't the external stuff (whether she reaches certain goals or milestones), but rather, how she feels about herself. In her second video, she was purposely very vague about whether she'd be going to college, now understanding that things might change and she might change her mind.
Like I said, it wasn't that Kayla came into any specific epiphany, she just made a lot of tweaks in her life that led her to understand herself better, and understand how should make herself a more comfortable space.
Mark Day (Dad)
As an adult, I definitely empathized with a lot of what Mark was doing, but I can see how he'd be ultra annoying to his teenager daughter.
Mark was trying to make conversation with his daughter, trying to cheer her up and connect with her. Like a typical teenager, Kayla couldn't see what her father could possibly understand about her life and she brushed him off.
When Kayla went to hang out with Olivia & company at the mall, Mark spied on her. Now, this is typical parent behaviour, starting in my generation I'd say. When I was hanging out with friends, sometimes my parents or my friends' parents would be nearby "in case." It was embarrassing af. However, in this movie, I don't think it was so much that Mark was worried about general security, but more that Kayla never went out so he wanted to see who these friends were and if they were unsavoury. Obviously Kayla was very upset because that was totally uncool, dad.
At the end of the movie, Kayla asked her dad to help her burn her time capsule box from the beginning of middle school. During that conversation, Kayla's dad basically told her that she has it in her to do the things she wants to do, and that he'll always like her just the way that she is. Honestly, he didn't say a lot, but I think Kayla just forgot a long time ago that her dad was always on her side and he helped her remember.
From that short conversation, it was implied that Mark had raised Kayla from a very young age, so he was probably struggling too. From an adult's perspective, especially as a dad trying to parent a daughter, I really appreciated how he was trying to connect with her.
Kennedy
Kennedy was the resident cool girl at Kayla's middle school. Kayla would not have interacted if her dad had not forced her to, and Kayla had good reason for this.
Kennedy was not only not welcoming, but she never hid her disdain for Kayla.
At the end of the movie, Kayla called Kennedy out for never even acting civil with her. Kennedy probably won't take this to heart, but this was a huge step for Kayla, that she acknowledged the role that Kennedy was playing in her life, and making a promise (to herself) that she wouldn't let someone like that affect her in this way again.
Aiden
Aiden was the guy Kayla had a crush on. As an adult, he was just a typical kid lol, but I could definitely feel for Kayla. Actually, Aiden was kind of gross lol, he was playing with his gum and yet Kayla thought he was so dreamy.
Word on the street was that Aiden wanted really sexual things from girls and so Kayla felt like she had to drum herself up as somebody who was open to that to get her on his radar. But actually, he kind of fell off of her radar, which made sense. A lot of crushes don't amount to anything, and they don't have to.
Gabe
Gabe was Kennedy's cousin, whom Kayla met at Kennedy's party. He was the only person who talked to her. He seemed pretty friendly, and by the end of the movie, he invited her over to hangout.
It was hilarious how casual Gabe was trying to act even though he was clearly trying to impress her. This happens a lot in the movie, but teenagers will be like "oh, this is so embarrassing, I don't want to talk about it" in hopes that somebody will ask them about what they supposedly don't want to talk about. Kayla did that when she talked to Aiden during the drill, and Gabe did that with his archery camp certificate.
Gabe was also very clearly trying to make it a romantic dinner since they were at opposite ends of a table with candles. During their conversation, we found out that they do have similar interests. It doesn't mean that they're soulmates, but at least Kayla has somebody that she can talk to about Rick & Morty, one of her interests.
Olivia
Olivia was the high school student that Kayla was shadowing. Originally I thought that the eighth graders would be paired with freshmen, but actually, Olivia was a senior, so a full 4 years older.
Olivia was very nice to Kayla, acting as the mentor figure that Kayla needed. Kayla obviously didn't feel comfortable confiding in her dad, but Olivia on the other hand, was somebody much closer in age to her, and had a better idea of what Kayla was going through.
Olivia was very nice, but her friends were a bit much in several ways. Aniyah and Trevor got into arguments a lot during their conversations. Now, teenagers do go through a phase in which they start developing their thoughts and their confidence and I think that's what Olivia and her friends were going through. They were starting to understand what was important to them, what made them happy and what creeped them out. And they were also learning how to talk to people in greater society, but clearly Trevor and Aniyah were still working on how to deal with disagreement with other people. However, that's not to say that they weren't friends. The thing about having friends when you're young is that they see your bad sides and hopefully they see how you learn from them.
Olivia was very caring of Kayla throughout the entire hangout, probably because she felt responsible for Kayla, but obviously Olivia was going above and beyond to help Kayla feel more comfortable in her own skin.
Riley
Riley was one of Olivia's friends. He was kind of quiet too, so Kayla felt a kinship with him. When driving back, Olivia had wanted Riley to drop off Kayla first, but the group came to a consensus that it was okay to leave Riley and Kayla alone.
In the middle of the drive, Riley tried to make sexual advances on Kayla via truth or dare. It was super uncomfortable for Kayla, and luckily she felt brave enough to say no.
Riley felt a bit bad and backed off, but he also framed the situation as him trying to help Kayla out. He said that now she'd lose her first time at some party, etc. So like, obviously Riley was a scumbag too, taking advantage of a kid four years his junior.
Kayla was very upset after she was dropped off. I think what she learned from this experience was that even cool people can be skeevy. She didn't know this before because she'd never been friends with anybody cool.
Themes
Changing expectations
Kayla placed a lot of importance in how her peers viewed her. That was why she made videos. That was why she made attempts to befriend the cool kids at school.
But as she learned more about the people around her, she realized that there's no reason that she needs to please those around her if they'd never bat an eye at her.
By the time she makes her second time capsule video, she understands that finding internal happiness is more important than getting it from those around her.
Confidence
A lot of Kayla's videos focused on being confident, despite the fact that she was very nervous and not confident.
By the end of the movie, she built her confidence by reprioritizing her life. She understood that the people she wanted to impress weren't really people who would ever give her the time of day. Instead, she opted to give her attention to people who would be encouraging.
Sexual boundaries
Like many young people, Kayla thought that she had to be sexually promiscuous for people to want to date her. I was actually kind of surprised that you would be able to find blowjob tutorials on Youtube lol.
Teenagers all around the world are always pressured to act sexual in order to be liked. They don't necessarily understand what sex appeal is, and why people like it, just that people will like them if they show their naked bodies. And for a while, Kayla did fall into that trap.
She realized that she really wasn't ready for what Riley was asking for/pressuring her into, especially since she'd only met Riley a few hours prior and they weren't even dating.
I don't doubt that Kayla will continue to feel pressured to act sexual, but I think from this experience she learned that her own comfort level is valid too.
Social media
Kayla was very involved in social media. I heard once that social media is designed to almost be a replacement for real life interaction. And I'm not saying "social media bad, real people good," but we see the contrasts in Kayla's mood and personal well-being in her relationships with social media.
Before, she posted a lot of videos, was always on social media, etc. And she was miserable.
When she started trying to interact more with her environment, it wasn't very a comfortable experience (getting rejected by the cool kids, etc.), but it gave her a better idea of how to interact with the real world.
Overall
This was a pretty good movie! It fit a lot into a very comfortable time span (1.5 hours), without being too on the nose about the changes that Kayla was going through. Not everybody goes through epiphanies. Actually, a lot of the time, developing yourself is a matter of the little things coming together to change you piece by piece. And of course, the acting and the overall atmosphere was very good. It was not overly polished, nor was it trying to hard to be funny. It was just average eighth graders trying to navigate their lives.
I liked that this movie was realistic. It was short and to the point, but not necessarily shocking, and that was probably because our main character Kayla is portrayed as a very average kid in today's modern world.
I would definitely recommend this movie.
Spoilers.
Story
The story focused on Kayla, an eighth grader, as she finished out her last week of middle school and proceeded onto high school. Kayla was a teenager of the current age. What I mean by that is that this movie was released in 2018 and Kayla was a teenager from 2018.
Kayla was overly involved in social media, despite the fact that from what we could see, she didn't have a lot of friends at school. This is a discussion for another day, but while my generation grew up alongside social media, Kayla's generation already had a fully fledged social media by the time they were old enough to get cell phones (which was quite young, seeing as how Kayla said she got Snapchat when she was in fifth grader).
I wouldn't say that this movie focused on any single thing, but it was just about Kayla learning to become more comfortable with herself. She struggled to find people she got along with everywhere she went, from the cool girls at school, her crush, the older kids from high school, and sometimes even her dad.
Kayla didn't necessarily come to any epiphany that gave her the courage to be who she wanted to be. It was just a series of small events that caused her to make small changes in her life and little by little, she was able to carve a place that was more welcoming for herself.
Production
Acting
The acting was definitely a major selling point of this movie. All the kids were just so awkward, and it didn't feel forced at all. In fact, I found that the acting was more difficult to believe in from the cooler kids such as Kennedy and Steph.
The conversations between the middle schoolers were awkward, but not in the way that's meant to induce a laugh. They're just...awkward. Because that's how middle schoolers are like. They're still developing their sense of self. We saw the contrast between Kayla and her schoolmates vs. Olivia and her friends. Teenagers go through a lot of change and middle school is still an early stage of that transformation.
Social media
I liked that this movie knew what it was doing with regards to social media. It didn't try to create clones of popular social media platforms. Kayla was very clearly using Instagram, Twitter, Youtube, etc. and not some weird clones, and made her feel more realistic.
Characters
Kayla
Kayla was our central character. I think a lot of introverted kids could relate to her. Social media is often an escape for lonely kids, to help them feel like they're among friends when they're alone in real life.
Kayla had a love-hate relationship with the cool girls at school. She kind of stayed way from them probably because they intimidated her, and that was why she wasn't going to go to the pool party. She'd only gone to the party when her dad made her. And she did not have a good time. She wasn't part of Kennedy's in-crowd, and Kennedy made no effort to make her feel included. I'm not putting this entirely on Kennedy because she was literally 14 years old, but she definitely didn't help. Kayla made an attempt to befriend Kennedy but nothing really came out of that.
At the end of the movie, Kayla confronted Kennedy about being mean to her. While Kennedy wasn't the sole reason for Kayla's loneliness, Kennedy, as the school's "cool kid," held a lot of social authority, and her being so outwardly dismissive of Kayla didn't help her. If Kennedy was more civil, that would've been better because at least she was polite, but Kennedy wasn't polite in the least.
Kayla had a crush on Aiden, who reportedly was a dick, but that didn't stop her. Apparently Aiden had sexual demands and Kayla tried to live up to them, but she didn't even end up talking to him much other than that time they were practising the drill in case there was a gun shooting drill.
At the end of the movie, when Aiden passed by Kayla, we thought that Kayla was going to follow after him to confess, but instead she ended up confronting Kennedy. I liked that this happened, not specifically in the sense of "yeah! boys are stinky!" but in the sense that Kayla had more important things going on for her. Namely, her isolation and alienation were far bigger issues for her than her current lack of a love life. Kennedy was hurting her far more than Aiden's lack of interest was.
Kayla had a mentor figure in Olivia, which was really nice. Olivia saw that Kayla was lonely and had low self-esteem and tried to cheer her up by inviting her. Kayla had a really fun time, even if she was just sitting and listening.
However, things took a turn when Riley was driving her home and made sexual advances towards her. The thing was, Riley framed them claiming that he was just helping her out, which shows how young Riley was too, but that was beside the point. From that entire experience, I think Kayla learned about her sexual boundaries, but also that people who seem really cool can be just as shitty. She thought that all of Olivia's friends were cool, but during their hangout she saw that they all had flaws.
Kayla had a typical teenager relationship with her dad. It was especially tough because he was a single parent, so there was no one to help him when Kayla was pushing him away. As an adult, I definitely appreciated her dad's sincere attempts to get to know her, but Kayla didn't want her dad anywhere in her life.
I get it, Kayla's at an age where it's super uncool to even acknowledge that you have parents. But the fact of the matter is, Kayla's dad was the one person who probably knew Kayla the best. He may not know anything about social media, or what the in-crowds are at school, but he could see when she was not feeling happy, because at least Kayla never had to hide her moods and feelings from her.
In the end, Mark reached out to Kayla to let her know that he was always there for her, and I think that was a comfort because Kayla will move on to high school, might find some new friends, but her dad will always be there at home for her.
Of course, the actress was very well cast. I looked her up and she would've been 15 years old when this movie was released, which is far closer to an actual eighth grader lol. She was very good at portraying a nervous eighth grader. Despite how eloquent I thought I was in my head as a teenager, I would've been just as nervous as she was, saying a lot of "like," "you know," etc. in her vidoes.
The movie ended with Kayla making a new time capsule video for herself for the end of high school. With regards to the time capsule, I think Kayla was upset with the video she made at the beginning of middle school because she hadn't achieved any of the things that she'd originally set out to do. But when she recorded her second time capsule video, we saw how her attitudes had changed. She'd realized that for one, it is very hard to plan so far ahead. In addition, she realized that what's important isn't the external stuff (whether she reaches certain goals or milestones), but rather, how she feels about herself. In her second video, she was purposely very vague about whether she'd be going to college, now understanding that things might change and she might change her mind.
Like I said, it wasn't that Kayla came into any specific epiphany, she just made a lot of tweaks in her life that led her to understand herself better, and understand how should make herself a more comfortable space.
Mark Day (Dad)
As an adult, I definitely empathized with a lot of what Mark was doing, but I can see how he'd be ultra annoying to his teenager daughter.
Mark was trying to make conversation with his daughter, trying to cheer her up and connect with her. Like a typical teenager, Kayla couldn't see what her father could possibly understand about her life and she brushed him off.
When Kayla went to hang out with Olivia & company at the mall, Mark spied on her. Now, this is typical parent behaviour, starting in my generation I'd say. When I was hanging out with friends, sometimes my parents or my friends' parents would be nearby "in case." It was embarrassing af. However, in this movie, I don't think it was so much that Mark was worried about general security, but more that Kayla never went out so he wanted to see who these friends were and if they were unsavoury. Obviously Kayla was very upset because that was totally uncool, dad.
At the end of the movie, Kayla asked her dad to help her burn her time capsule box from the beginning of middle school. During that conversation, Kayla's dad basically told her that she has it in her to do the things she wants to do, and that he'll always like her just the way that she is. Honestly, he didn't say a lot, but I think Kayla just forgot a long time ago that her dad was always on her side and he helped her remember.
From that short conversation, it was implied that Mark had raised Kayla from a very young age, so he was probably struggling too. From an adult's perspective, especially as a dad trying to parent a daughter, I really appreciated how he was trying to connect with her.
Kennedy
Kennedy was the resident cool girl at Kayla's middle school. Kayla would not have interacted if her dad had not forced her to, and Kayla had good reason for this.
Kennedy was not only not welcoming, but she never hid her disdain for Kayla.
At the end of the movie, Kayla called Kennedy out for never even acting civil with her. Kennedy probably won't take this to heart, but this was a huge step for Kayla, that she acknowledged the role that Kennedy was playing in her life, and making a promise (to herself) that she wouldn't let someone like that affect her in this way again.
Aiden
Aiden was the guy Kayla had a crush on. As an adult, he was just a typical kid lol, but I could definitely feel for Kayla. Actually, Aiden was kind of gross lol, he was playing with his gum and yet Kayla thought he was so dreamy.
Word on the street was that Aiden wanted really sexual things from girls and so Kayla felt like she had to drum herself up as somebody who was open to that to get her on his radar. But actually, he kind of fell off of her radar, which made sense. A lot of crushes don't amount to anything, and they don't have to.
Gabe
Gabe was Kennedy's cousin, whom Kayla met at Kennedy's party. He was the only person who talked to her. He seemed pretty friendly, and by the end of the movie, he invited her over to hangout.
It was hilarious how casual Gabe was trying to act even though he was clearly trying to impress her. This happens a lot in the movie, but teenagers will be like "oh, this is so embarrassing, I don't want to talk about it" in hopes that somebody will ask them about what they supposedly don't want to talk about. Kayla did that when she talked to Aiden during the drill, and Gabe did that with his archery camp certificate.
Gabe was also very clearly trying to make it a romantic dinner since they were at opposite ends of a table with candles. During their conversation, we found out that they do have similar interests. It doesn't mean that they're soulmates, but at least Kayla has somebody that she can talk to about Rick & Morty, one of her interests.
Olivia
Olivia was the high school student that Kayla was shadowing. Originally I thought that the eighth graders would be paired with freshmen, but actually, Olivia was a senior, so a full 4 years older.
Olivia was very nice to Kayla, acting as the mentor figure that Kayla needed. Kayla obviously didn't feel comfortable confiding in her dad, but Olivia on the other hand, was somebody much closer in age to her, and had a better idea of what Kayla was going through.
Olivia was very nice, but her friends were a bit much in several ways. Aniyah and Trevor got into arguments a lot during their conversations. Now, teenagers do go through a phase in which they start developing their thoughts and their confidence and I think that's what Olivia and her friends were going through. They were starting to understand what was important to them, what made them happy and what creeped them out. And they were also learning how to talk to people in greater society, but clearly Trevor and Aniyah were still working on how to deal with disagreement with other people. However, that's not to say that they weren't friends. The thing about having friends when you're young is that they see your bad sides and hopefully they see how you learn from them.
Olivia was very caring of Kayla throughout the entire hangout, probably because she felt responsible for Kayla, but obviously Olivia was going above and beyond to help Kayla feel more comfortable in her own skin.
Riley
Riley was one of Olivia's friends. He was kind of quiet too, so Kayla felt a kinship with him. When driving back, Olivia had wanted Riley to drop off Kayla first, but the group came to a consensus that it was okay to leave Riley and Kayla alone.
In the middle of the drive, Riley tried to make sexual advances on Kayla via truth or dare. It was super uncomfortable for Kayla, and luckily she felt brave enough to say no.
Riley felt a bit bad and backed off, but he also framed the situation as him trying to help Kayla out. He said that now she'd lose her first time at some party, etc. So like, obviously Riley was a scumbag too, taking advantage of a kid four years his junior.
Kayla was very upset after she was dropped off. I think what she learned from this experience was that even cool people can be skeevy. She didn't know this before because she'd never been friends with anybody cool.
Themes
Changing expectations
Kayla placed a lot of importance in how her peers viewed her. That was why she made videos. That was why she made attempts to befriend the cool kids at school.
But as she learned more about the people around her, she realized that there's no reason that she needs to please those around her if they'd never bat an eye at her.
By the time she makes her second time capsule video, she understands that finding internal happiness is more important than getting it from those around her.
Confidence
A lot of Kayla's videos focused on being confident, despite the fact that she was very nervous and not confident.
By the end of the movie, she built her confidence by reprioritizing her life. She understood that the people she wanted to impress weren't really people who would ever give her the time of day. Instead, she opted to give her attention to people who would be encouraging.
Sexual boundaries
Like many young people, Kayla thought that she had to be sexually promiscuous for people to want to date her. I was actually kind of surprised that you would be able to find blowjob tutorials on Youtube lol.
Teenagers all around the world are always pressured to act sexual in order to be liked. They don't necessarily understand what sex appeal is, and why people like it, just that people will like them if they show their naked bodies. And for a while, Kayla did fall into that trap.
She realized that she really wasn't ready for what Riley was asking for/pressuring her into, especially since she'd only met Riley a few hours prior and they weren't even dating.
I don't doubt that Kayla will continue to feel pressured to act sexual, but I think from this experience she learned that her own comfort level is valid too.
Social media
Kayla was very involved in social media. I heard once that social media is designed to almost be a replacement for real life interaction. And I'm not saying "social media bad, real people good," but we see the contrasts in Kayla's mood and personal well-being in her relationships with social media.
Before, she posted a lot of videos, was always on social media, etc. And she was miserable.
When she started trying to interact more with her environment, it wasn't very a comfortable experience (getting rejected by the cool kids, etc.), but it gave her a better idea of how to interact with the real world.
Overall
This was a pretty good movie! It fit a lot into a very comfortable time span (1.5 hours), without being too on the nose about the changes that Kayla was going through. Not everybody goes through epiphanies. Actually, a lot of the time, developing yourself is a matter of the little things coming together to change you piece by piece. And of course, the acting and the overall atmosphere was very good. It was not overly polished, nor was it trying to hard to be funny. It was just average eighth graders trying to navigate their lives.