There must be some rule of film that forbids 13-19 year olds being on camera. Young children are played by actual children. Elderly people are played by the elderly. But teenagers are almost always someone between 20 and 30 and not an actual teenager. What’s up with that?

Bo Burnham’s “Eighth Grade” features a 13-year-old playing a 13-year-old. He said he wanted to capture the natural awkwardness and self-consciousness that we all experienced at that age.

There’s a handful of movies where it totally works. The kids in Stand By Me were all the right age and Rob Reiner got incredible performances out of them. It might be a little bit harder, but it can be done.