EIFF 2016: The Fits

Anna Rose Holmer's beguiling debut, about a young female dance troupe who one-by-one experience mysterious seizures, is more audio-visual poem than traditional sports movie

Film Review by Michelle Devereaux | 17 Jun 2016
Film title: The Fits
Director: Anna Rose Holmer
Starring: Royalty Hightower, Alexis Neblett, Da’Sean Minor, Lauren Gibson, Makyla Burnam, Inayah Rodgers, Antonio A.B. Grant Jr., The Q-Kidz Dance Team

Anna Rose Holmer’s audacious, atmospheric feature debut follows the journey of 11-year-old Toni as she makes the confusing transition from lonely tomboy boxer to member of the Lionesses, a fiercely competitive dance troupe in her local Cincinnati rec centre. While the skinny yet scrappy Toni (the effortlessly natural Royalty Hightower) is an obvious force in the ring – spending long hours training and sparring with her older brother – on the dance floor she’s a bit of a gangly mess. But her seeming desperation to fit in with the older, more worldly girls in the troupe overrides her inherent awkward shyness.

When those girls mysteriously start to experience seizures, fainting and other forms of 'fits' one by one, it naturally causes a panic. Eventually, though, the weird episodes become almost normalized. Soon each girl is casually sharing her experience as if it’s some kind of typical rite of passage, comparable to losing her virginity. Younger girls like Toni’s new friend Beezy (chubby-cheeked Alexis Neblett, who nearly dances away with the film) even begin to become envious, and wonder why nothing has happened to them yet.


More coverage of EIFF:

 Edinburgh Film Festival 2016: 11 films to see

 Finnish films breaking out internationally


It’s probably obvious that The Fits is in no way a traditional 'sports movie' – there’s no focus on winning the big championship or fostering team spirit through adversity. The sparse dialogue, even sparser exposition, and economical yet stylish cinematography lend it the feeling of an audio-visual tone poem. While Toni’s arc feels triumphant in some ways, it also feels kind of scary. The film’s brilliant score, filled with unsettling, atonal jazz riffs and rhythmic clapping, nails both the dread and exaltation that muddle the tumultuous path to womanhood.

It’s difficult not to compare The Fits to Carol Morley’s 2014 film The Falling, which has an extremely similar basic plot and also refuses easy explanations for its characters’ actions. But while The Falling offers plenty of subtext from which to draw conclusions, The Fits is mostly interested in creating haunting sense impressions. Holmer’s principle lyrical tool is her young star, whose luminous, almond-shaped eyes veritably burn with an intense clarity of purpose.

The Fits screens at Cineworld, 18 Jun, 4.10pm & Filmhouse, 19 Jun, 8.50pm