Elsie Fisher makes hesitant speech worth listening to: we hear the effort of deciding what another person might accept. In Eighth Grade, that attention to ordinary embarrassment produces a performance we recommend warmly.
Fi1m perspective
In Eighth Grade (2018), Kayla Day tries to sound confident in her online videos, and Fisher lets us hear how much work it takes. A phrase has to be found, tried out and made to sound as though it arrived without thought. We felt painfully exposed by those attempts at ease, because Fisher makes the wish to appear assured so recognisable. The performance deserves the film's patience; we stay interested in Kayla even when she has nothing remarkable to say.
Fisher's early work included voicing Agnes in Despicable Me (2010) and Despicable Me 2 (2013), before live-action supporting work in McFarland, USA (2015). Eighth Grade was the breakthrough lead, and it remains the clearest reason for our enthusiasm. Subsequent roles in Castle Rock (2019), Barry (2022–23) and Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022) have taken Fisher into other settings. We would not want all those parts judged by how closely they resemble Kayla.
Writer-director Bo Burnham gives Fisher words that are hesitant and untidy, without turning Kayla into a source of ready-made observations about adolescence. Fisher makes wanting to belong seem reasonable, and the humour depends on recognising that want rather than enjoying a failure. With Josh Hamilton as her father, Mark Day, the difficulty changes: affection is available, but accepting it is not straightforward. Fisher's performance leaves room for that difficulty, so the warmth of the father-daughter scenes does not settle everything.
Editor Jennifer Lilly helps by allowing awkward exchanges to last instead of cutting quickly to the next joke. That extra time matters: Fisher can make choosing the next ordinary word seem difficult without making Kayla tiresome. Anna Meredith's music is less restrained, sometimes pressing the anxiety harder than the acting requires. This is our reservation about a film we otherwise recommend warmly: Burnham's writing and the score occasionally insist on sympathy that Fisher has already earned.
We would like to see Fisher bring that care with speech to someone who expects to be listened to. Another awkward adolescent need not be the only route to a substantial part. Start with Eighth Grade, but allow for the discomfort of recognising rather more than expected.
Biography
Elsie Fisher is an American actor. Born on 3 April 2003 in Riverside, California, Fisher began acting at the age of six, appearing in an episode of the television series Medium (2009).
Fisher is known for voicing Agnes in the animated films Despicable Me (2010) and Despicable Me 2 (2013), and Masha in the English dub of Masha and the Bear (2009–2012). In 2018, Fisher received critical acclaim for the lead role of Kayla Day in Bo Burnham’s comedy-drama Eighth Grade, earning a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical. Subsequent roles include Parker Needler in The Addams Family (2019), Joy Wilkes in the series Castle Rock (2018), and appearances in The Bear (2022) and Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022).
