Act your age: teens put the sheen on films about growing up

Like Eighth Grade, Boyhood and the new comedy Good Boys, the most authentic coming-of-age movies feature casts still in the throes of adolescence

Film has a sometimes troubling relationship with authenticity. However, in coming-of-age films, the authenticity of having child actors in the roles gives the films a certain flair that makes them shine. One notable example is the forthcoming Good Boys, a raucous coming-of-age film for tweenage boys. It features three lead actors who are only a few years older than the 12-year-olds they are playing. There is a touching innocence that marks their performance and produces memorable scenes, such as mistaking their parents’ sex toys for nunchucks and indoor swings. In films about the experience of growing up, there is a certain flavour that can be mimicked but not recreated by older actors.

Eighth Grade is another film to be applauded for its awkwardly sweet look at what it means to be a schoolkid in the digital age. Elsie Fisher slots naturally into protagonist Kayla’s hunched posture and curtain of hair that protects her from the outside world. Having started filming almost immediately after finishing eighth grade herself, her performance as Kayla is all the more riveting for the way she taps into her own recent experience. This is what creates the film’s cringey charm.

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from Children | The Guardian http://bit.ly/2Y4shIB