The Fits

Anna Rose Holmer’s visually lush debut feature THE FITS is a delightfully enigmatic coming-of-age story about a young girl’s transition out of childhood and the anxiety around growing up, the film debuted at the 2015 Venice International Film Festival, after having been developed at the Venice Biennale College. THE FITS also screened at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival and 2016 New Directors/New Films Festival.

Eleven-year-old tomboy Toni (a show-stopping Royalty Hightower) is bewitched by the tight-knit dance team she sees practicing in the same Cincinnati gymnasium where she boxes. Enamored by the power and confidence of the strong community of girls, Toni spends less and less time boxing with her older brother, and instead eagerly absorbs the dance routines and masters drills from a distance, and even pierces her own ears in an effort to fit in. But when a mysterious outbreak of fainting spells plagues the team, Toni’s desire for acceptance becomes more complicated. Gorgeously shot and with a mesmerizing score, THE FITS is a transformative experience and a marvelous portrait of adolescence.

“Beat by beat, thrilling move by move, the director Anna Rose Holmer — making an impressively assured feature debut — proves that the his-and-her spaces of the boxing ring and dance floor are more multilayered than they seem.” – Manohla Dargis, The New York Times

“First-time writer-director Anna Rose Holmer crafts a meticulous mood of psychological isolation and beguiling mystery through her metaphorical tale. This immensely promising debut suggests a bright future for its maker.” – Nick Schager, Variety