This film is the most boring thing I've ever seen. Nothing happens. A few women pass out. That's it. Total garbage. Sorry but true.

This film has several things working in it's favor. One is it's unique minimal style, which is balanced by it's brevity. This minimalism also permeates the dialogue, perhaps slightly to it's detriment since most of it is constructed with perfunctory questions met with vague answers (or many times just another perfunctory question) which leaves it feeling a bit underdeveloped and uninformative, but is also counter-balanced by the articulate, energetic movement of the numerous bodies filling the frames. The characters and relationships are a big plus. The typical angry, desperate and stand-offish interactions that plague most stories about inner-city communities are replaced with interpersonal flair, intimacy and wonder. Beezy (Alexis Neblett) is particularly delightful as she frolics like a fresh breeze through each scene. It seems many critics struggle with the true nature of the "fits", but the fits are certainly a metaphor of budding sexuality, relating to first menstruation or initial sexual experience. The fits are met with anxiety, curiosity, and fear giving way to a sense of illumination, growth and self-realization. It reminds me of the 2005 LaChapelle documentary, "Rize", where a girl falls faint during a vigorous dance session and a young fellow explains that she "struck" and that it was what they had all been waiting on. "The Fits" is not a perfect film, but definitely an invigorating tale of participation in a joyous initiation to fulfillment, innately understood.

This is very much an arty film, in terms of it being quite low in dialogue and featuring dance and style in tone. The plot direction isn't very clear and I did feel there was a sense of isolation put across with the young girl shown expressing her love of dance, while mostly being on her own. There is a somewhat spooky/eery sense when we see the other girls succumbing to the mysterious 'fits' the film is named after. However, it was frustrating that there didn't seem to be much in the way of answers given and it was left a bit open ended overall. It didn't especially appeal to me and I certainly wouldn't call it memorable but if you like arty type films, then this may interest you.

A modern classic, I hope we see more from director Anna Rose Holmer.

Absolute waste of your time. No story, no reconciliation of wtf or WHY tf this is happening and you're left with...wtf did I just watch?

I struggled with this, it did feel like it meandered and became too surreal. Found it a difficult watch though the acting was good

In need of a film to nitpick with your seemingly philosophical friends? Director and writer Anna Rose Holmer could satisfy just that. Holmer's debut film, The Fits, follows the complex character of Toni as she further enters adolescence, but subtract the repetitious teen-flick plot. The film opens with an innocent, yet fiery shot of Toni, played by Royalty Hightower, doing sit-ups in the boxing gym. Who could predict that this same effortlessly tomboy girl took interest in joining an all-girls dance group? As Toni bravely put a pause on the boxing gloves and enters into dance, she faces challenges in regards to her lack of skill, ability to make new friends, and the shift from being customarily around boys to being surrounded by girls of her age and up. Even without the abundance of a script, the audience is able to see so much curiosity, wonder, and even adversity simply through Hightower's ability to execute such emotion through her expressions. The true shift in the film happened shortly after Toni joined the Lionesses: when seemingly random members of their all-girls dance group were being sent to the hospital one after the other due to having seizure-like fits falsely predicted to be caused by the drinking water. Holmer leaves it up to the audience to exercise their poetic gears and give meaning to this phenomena. Many may look past Holmer's strategic and artistic ways of bringing this film to life. From the recurring, broken up, solemn symphony in the background, to the stereotypic symbols used to represent womanhood, and even the demographic of characters chosen, I found myself digging a hole full of the deeper meanings I gave to many aspects of this film. The striking message that this film conveys embodies self acceptance and independence, which is delivered through an empowering pair of character and plot. I believe that the delivery of this message would be different if Holmer did not choose the African-American female youth to convey it largely because their experiences and adversity differ immensely in comparison to the youth of another demographic, and also because it just fits! This message you can only confirm if you take the time to watch the film and explore its reflection of society. I believe that one of Holmer's targets for the film is to provide the audience with "To Each His own", analytical explanation for the variety of elements contained in the film. I enjoyed how the plot wrapped together instead of being overplayed in the end, although, these elements taken together could leave a number of viewers feeling dissatisfied because it may not hit-the-spot in regards to the entertaining factor many people value when watching films.

Stigmatized This assignment is written based on the film The Fits written by Anna Rose Holmerï¿ 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2(TM)s. A young girl named Toni is seen training in a boxing gym with her brother. She seems to be a tomboy whom is quiet, shy, yet very determined. Toni becomes intrigued with the girls on the dance team and watches them practice discreetly from the window of the doors. Toni decides to try out for the team and realizes that she needs practice. She notices she is not able to move like the other girls on the team. The film is quite repetitive as she is seen practicing the same routine throughout the movie. Because of this I found the movie uninteresting. At some points I found the film a little inspiring because, it shows young girls to never give up on something they want to accomplish. Toni becomes friends with two other girls who are new to the team. Their names are Beezy and Maia. As their friendship progresses, Toni decides to pierce her ears, and paint her nails. She seems to be trying to find herself as a person, showing a curious personality. One of captains whose name is Legs has a strange fit at practice and the fits start happening to the other girls. When the girls find out itï¿ 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2(TM)s not the water making them have the seizure like symptoms, the girls become concerned yet curious. Toni becomes concerned and scared, making her take her earingï¿ 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2(TM)s out and her nail polish off. She was possibly second guessing herself for joining the team. While watching these episodes unfold I thought the girls were trying drugs at first however, as I payed attention to the detail of the film I then realized that the author is expressing young girls transitioning into the adolescents of there lives. I was not to intrigued with the film and how they portrayed transitioning into a young woman. I found it very dramatized when the girls broke down into fits, making it look like they were having seizures. I know that the author used a lot of metaphors in this film, however she could have done it differently. Transitioning into the adolescents of your life is nothing like having seizures or looking like youï¿ 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2(TM)re almost dying. Itï¿ 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2(TM)s your body changing, your thoughts unravelling and discovering your feelings. It is about how you dress, how you portray yourself as a person, and taking on new experiences in your life. In my opinion I think Toni did very well at trying to find herself. She was quiet, shy, she looked up to her brother making her a tomboy, she showed great determination and sportsmanship. She tried new things, realized that her mind, body, and soul was going through changes and she was very curious. If the film didnï¿ 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2(TM)t make the fits so dramatized and the scenes so repetitive, I think I would have enjoyed the movie a lot more. I enjoy watching movies or documentaries that are more realistic and not so stigmatized.

Did I like that movie? I will say meh! I will give it a three stars. The quality was not that great. However, after doing my research, I discover that it was a really low budget movie, so I can say Anna Rose did a big effort. What I did like about the movie was the music the sounds effect and the way they expressed the narrative with the more images. I hated the fact that most of the movie was only between the boxing ring and the dance arena, no parents were involve at all during the movie. In addition, we only know how the others character saw Toni, Toni barely expressed herself. In my opinion, the director wanted to show the transition of a woman between the childhood and the adolescence. She shows how Toni is trying to discover herself as a woman. The mysterious disease for me symbolize the different stage girls (menstruation, body change, love...) have to experience before becoming an adolescent. Although the image of transitioning from childhood to the adolescence is present in this movie, I notice the movie unintentionally show woman as crazy. The disease only happen to girls and, all the girls wanted to follow the crowd and have that disease. It was like she was trying to recreate "Hysteria", the psychologic disorder only woman have. We know that thousand years ago, "hysteria" was a form of illness only attributed to women, and in order to heal that disease, the uterus of women were extracted. In other word, she unintentionally showed an undesirable caricature of women: crazy, upset, and weak. In one of the song of the movie, the lyrics were "we must be slave of gravity". I know it might have not been the idea behind this movie, but I felt like they were trying to show how we, woman have to all look alike in order to "fit" in society, and also our tendencies to follow the crowd in order to fit in society. Society always impose as a way how woman should be, how woman should behave, but never how man should be. Through out centuries, Society always see women as crazy, hysterical and always following tendencies (fashion, behavioural...), so for the producer to use that to describe the transition from childhood to adolescence was not a great move. I think she could have choose something else. The movie was not bad do not get me wrong, but it was just a wrong caricature of feminism.

An intriguing film which leaves the viewer with more questions than answers, "The Fits" gently, and sometimes callously, prods ideas of conformity, adolescence, and womanhood. The ending proves itself to be quite polarizing, but in the very least is a trumph of choreography and cinematography. Our main character is Toni (played by acting newcomer, Royalty Hightower), a tomboysih eleven-year-old girl with fierce eyes and a passion for boxing which she shares with her teen brother and mentor, Jermaine (De Sean Minor). Set in an urban, rough American neighborhood where boxing may be more than a form of entertainment, but also a useful tool, it seems only natural for Toni to emulate the tough characteristics of those around her. Through ironic happenstance, Toni decides to pick up an urban, aggressive form of dance which compliments her masculine nature while allowing her to explore her budding feminine side. Along the way, she makes new friends: Beezy (Alexis Neblett), and Maia (Lauren Gibson). These friends serve an important role in making Toni feel accepted, and they give her the confidence to show her newly discovered femininity to the world. Without warning or foreshadowing, a strange illness strikes. One by one, members of Toni's dance troupe, from oldest to youngest, fall victim to debilitating seizures, which they comically begin to refer to as "the fits." Likely a metaphor for puberty, the fits is an experience which every girl recollects as being unique to them alone. For viewers that connect with the idea of the fits representing puberty, this does an excellent job of forcing them to think of their own experiences with adolescence, including both the euphoric highs of entering adulthood as well as the notorious lows that come as a package deal for many awkward, transitioning teens. While toni is afraid and vulnerable as she anxiously awaits her turn, the experience is ultimately liberating for her personality, giving her the power to embrace her own womanhood. Directed by Anna Rose Holmer, the metaphors of The Fits leave the movie feeling convoluted, but for those that get lost, this is salvaged largely in part due to excellent cinematography by Paul Yee. Though bland during certain slow stretches, I would recommend this movie to friends and family alike.

This movie is a perspective of a seemingly quiet girl Tony who spends most of the time working out in the boy's gym with her brother. There is a lot going on in her mind and we experience it through the eyes and sounds in Tonyï¿ 1/2 1/2(TM)s head. In the beginning, the girl Tony has her own world, but through a glass window, she looks at the bigger girls practicing their dance routine. The dancing girls squad fascinates her and she tries to be part of that club. Viewers are largely left to determine for themselves what drives Toni to join the club and that is the beauty of the movie. Most of the actions are not spelled and viewers can only feel and sense them to make up their mind. In the beginning, Tony seems lonely and not adjusting, but slowly she gets some friends. Like the other girls in the club, she paints her nails, gets her ears pierced and practice a dance routine for hours and hours. Suddenly the older girls in the dance club start experiencing a strange condition ï¿ 1/2 1/2The Fitsï¿ 1/2 1/2ï¿ 1/2Â?.Now being part of the social club also includes experiencing ï¿ 1/2 1/2the Fitsï¿ 1/2 1/2ï¿ 1/2Â?. Like any other vulnerable population, girls just follow each other to be a part of the group. It seems they are leaving themselves behind to fit in. Adults in the movie are trying to figure out what is wrong with the girls, but girls seem ok with it. In the movie, these fits are described in abstract terms. All the girls experience fits according to their struggles in life. At a point in the movieï¿ 1/2 1/2ï¿ 1/2Â?fitï¿ 1/2 1/2ï¿ 1/2Â? is viewed through smartphones and devices, it's not spelled out but the writer conveys the message of how we see life through lenses and social media. This movie to some level is ï¿ 1/2 1/2coming of the ageï¿ 1/2 1/2ï¿ 1/2Â? type. Every teen girl sees puberty with wonder, dread, fear but curiosity and so is Tony. She looks at the world around her and feels it inside. In the beginning, she is scared but eventually embraces it. Tony's fit Fit metaphorical than physical. It depicted her true personality and her inner strength. The song, in the end, Arora gives the feeling of freedom and acceptance. Tony becomes who she wants to be, and it's fascinating and liberating at the same time.

The film " The Fits" (2015) suits its title to the story. The movie is very slow moving at start and has very little narratives. That is why you have to really focus and be attentive to the actions and expressions of the main character, Toni. The main cast real name is Royalty Hightower. Her acting is very promising. She carries her role really well even with very little script. She is very talented actress. The director Anna Rose Holmer is a good director to the fact that, it is her first directing experienced. I like the movie because of its message that is relevant to the adolescence age especially now a days that it is very easy to be influenced by the people around us. This film can be used as a start of conversation and discussion between parents and daughter/son; to advised their children to be aware of their surrounding that can give them bad influenced and to know themselves what they should adopt or not and if the situation is right or wrong for themselves. Also, to think of the consequence of their actions and wrong decisions.

This is a coming of age that is too good to be called a coming of age.

- Girlhood is dizzying in The Fits - There are very few grownups in The Fits. It's a story about the communities kids build for themselves-particularly girls. There are countless coming of age movies about boys, but this one features temporary tattoos and glitter nail polish, giggles and sass. It's also dark and cavernous, mysterious and pulsating, with a surreal take on adolescence and what it means to grow up, grow into your skin, learn to fit into a new set of people. I've completely been that girl-so determinedly wanting to graft myself into a new community, but not entirely sure how to do it. You don't say much, but you make a few friends anyway, and suddenly you're in. Newcomer Royalty Highwater is the first face we see, as young Toni (just nine years old when she auditioned for the role in the film). Unlike other girls in her neighborhood, Toni spends her after-school hours doing pull-ups, crunches, and boxing in the training portion of the local recreation center. Her older brother Jermaine (Da'Sean Minor) does janitorial work for the center, so Toni sticks around to help him mop, refill water coolers, and wash laundry. She yearns to know more about the girls who frequent the gymnasium. They are "The Lionesses"-the local dance team that's brought home a trophy four years running. The older girls make eyes at the teen boys in the boxing ring through the glass-paneled doors. The little girls run like wildfire through the hallways. Tired of her routine (and, honestly, a little tired of just being one of the boys) Toni musters up the courage to join the group audition at the beginning of the year. Toni is a quiet girl, but Highwater plays her with the honesty of youth: floating back and forth between absolute assurance, quavering frailty, and wide-eyed observance. She's not a great dancer, but she's strong and she practices. She's set her mind to something, and she's staying at it. I get this. I know what it means to not be one of the big beautiful girls yet, curving confidently out at the stomach and rear-end as they stand in formation, ready to unleash their dance moves, to be rail-thin and about a beat behind everyone else. After a fairly realism-grounded intro, The Fits takes a fascinating turn when one by one the older girls in the group each start experiencing a violent, seizure-like episode. At first the community is panicked. Will they be able to participate in the tournament? Will their dance captains be ok? Is the local water source contaminated? (As this is an African-American community, this one came with deep sorrow of accidental reality evoking the crisis in Flint, Michigan that came to light within the last year). But then, as girls do, they somehow even turn this strange, inexplicable illness into a club and a rite of passage. The girls start talking about it almost like we talk to each other about menstruation: certainly it's a little scary, but it's inevitable, and it doesn't appear to have killed anyone yet. "It hasn't happened to any of the boys," Toni remarks to her friend Maia (Lauren Gibson) as they discuss yet another dancer rushed to the hospital. "Yeah, but we're not them," Maia responds, as if Toni was silly to even try and draw that connection. She's right, of course. We're not them. And so many things girls go through haven't happened to the boys. There is something deep and fierce about girls. It's awe-inspiring to see a film full of so many strong women dancing for their own pleasure, worrying over their own problems-and without any intervention from an outside savior-figure. The Fits isn't a perfect film. The sparse dialogue isn't the most original or compelling. It certainly won't answer all your questions, or stay put within one genre. But it's a beautiful, haunting story from newcomer director Anna Rose Holmer. Holmer will be one to watch out for as we continue to invest in movies that really capture the essence of the human spirit. ---------- This review was first published on Narrative Muse, http://www.narrativemuse.co/movies/the-fits, and was written Debbie Holloway. Narrative Muse curates the best books and movies by and about women and non-binary folk on our website http://narrativemuse.co and our social media channels.

A shoestring budgeted film with local actors and a minimal plot. There's some talent here, but it simply isn't entertaining.

WATCH THIS MOVIE NOW. If you are willing to suspend belief for a moment that soars as high as any I have ever seen. This is not a narratively simple or straightforward story but rather one that aims to impress a story upon you rather than simply tell you it's story. This movie is on amazon prime instant video and I am literally shocked I haven't heard more about it. The movie takes place almost entirely in and around a dance/boxing academy and focuses on a young female protagonist who is enameled with an older group of teenage dancers. I don't want to say another word about what happens because it's imperative that you go in blind. The movie doesn't have a rating but would be PG-13 for a load of thematic material that simply can't be handled by a younger audience. This is by far the most ambitious directorial debut I have seen to date in my lifetime. Spectacularly good, and I think I will only come to appreciate it more with time (finished it about 7 minutes ago). Take note that the young female star's name is Royalty Hightower. And she totally lives up to it.

I found most of the prose in this piece rather forced and unnatural, ultimately making for a tedious watch despite the grander spectacle and some interesting ideas.

The movie 'The fits' is an ecstatic representation of our daily routine and daily life. For the most part, the long takes of each scene attempt to establish the sensation of tedious and repetitive life. The idea behind the struggles of fitting and exploration of identity is portrayed thoroughly. Carefully chosen OST 'Aurora' at the end scene of 'the fits' and Toni's unconcious vision aids the implication of indirect message at the end of the movie leaving us with a thoughful message at the end

An incredible psychological thriller on the same level as the black swan or whiplash. It's as terrifying as it is ambitious. All the actors are children, and the writers and director had never done either before, instead working in more techinical aspects.

Enigmatic and quiet with a brooding suspense and leaves one somewhat affected.