The Fits

Description

Toni is a girl on the cusp of puberty, training to be a boxer but more interested in joining local dance group the Lionesses. Adept at translating her physical grace in the ring to the more fluid movements of the troupe, she lands herself a spot and a devoted acolyte named Bianca who follows her around. Not long thereafter, some of the Lionesses develop a mysterious ailment (the “fits” of the title, carrying both literal and symbolic weight) and fears of contagion spread. Set in a largely African American Cincinnati neighborhood and featuring a taut score and poignant performances—especially by braided Royalty Hightower as Toni—The Fits is a daring debut feature by Anna Rose Holmer. She gives particular and remarkable prominence to movement, music and physicality as Toni and some of her fellow dancers perform their routines in unexpectedly beautiful locales, such as emptied swimming pools, an urban overpass and, vividly, the boxing ring itself. Rarely has the transition from girlhood to adolescence been depicted with such energy and originality. —Susan Gerhard

Trailer

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