“The Fits” is a fresh, poetic vision.
I love great dialogue. From the snappy noir repartee of a Billy Wilder classic to Quentin Tarantino’s gloriously long-winded verbal marathons, dialogue can be one of the most rich and satisfying elements of a great film. What’s so startling, then, about director Anna Rose Holmer’s debut fiction film is that its dialogue is of little importance. Where other characters might express their thoughts, feelings, and motivations through words, the true language of The Fits is movement. While it can be something of a shock for those accustomed to more plot-heavy films, The Fits proves itself to be a refreshing and remarkable movie experience.
Toni (Royalty Hightower, in her first film role) is a tough, tomboyish 11 year old girl who helps her brother out when he works at the local community athletic center. She decides to join the community center’s dance troupe, and begins making friends with the other girls when a strange epidemic besets the team. One day, in the middle of practice, one of the older girls suffers from a seizure-like fit and is taken to the hospital. These same afflictions begin to spread to the rest of the team, and Toni becomes both frightened and tantalized by the possibility of experiencing one of these fits herself.
Leading the cast of a feature film is a serious task for an actor of any age, but despite her youth Hightower proves herself plenty capable for the job. As Toni, she guides the audience through the awkward gap between girlhood and womanhood. Though at the start of the film she is perfectly content training with her brother in the boxing ring, the poise and confidence shown by the older girls (as well as their tight-knit friendships and arcane teenage secrets) provoke Toni’s curiosity. The shift in perspective Toni experiences makes for a compelling, understated coming-of-age story. Boys go from sparring partners to the objects of locker-room gossip, and the fits themselves eventually become something of a rite of passage. These strange ailments are experienced by the older girls first, which puzzles and captivates the younger ones. Toni’s friend Beezy wonders aloud whether they might be caused by a “boyfriend disease.”
Those looking for a complicated plotline or a detailed medical explanation for the titular disease will likely be disappointed. The relative lack of expository dialogue throughout Toni’s story only serves to highlight how effectively the film uses human motion as a versatile storytelling device. The way a person moves can stir an almost endless variety of moods; the jerky twitch of a seizing fit is both gripping and terrifying, for instance. An eleven year old girl doing a seemingly endless series of sit-ups (as Toni does in the film’s opening shot) is a clear sign that this character possesses real power and endurance. That same girl in a line of three or four others her age, all trying their hardest to nail a series of dance moves for which they have more enthusiasm than skill? Both charming and hysterically funny.
One reason Holmer’s direction is so effective is that she is willing to let shots linger long enough for emotional content of the on-screen movement to fully sink in. Though this slows the film’s pacing to a degree, it also grants it a poetry and grace that other films rarely have the guts to attempt. To some viewers, this might seem sluggish, but for those willing to embrace these stylistic quirks the rewards are considerable. Holmer has crafted a meditative portrait of the quiet excitement and anxiety that are a part of the process of growing up. Her sure-handed direction and Paul Yee’s alluring cinematography give The Fits enough flourish to hold the audience’s attention, but it also knows when to step back and let us absorb the film’s more subtle moments.
Its relaxed pace might not win over all audiences, but The Fits is nonetheless well worth seeking out. Though the film is light on plot, it’s both accessible and artistic, full of heart and meaning. It’s a surprisingly rich little coming-of-age tale, built on strong filmmaking craft and a great performance from its promising young lead. It’s also a testament to the vibrancy and vitality of independent film; entirely grant-funded, The Fits is a clear example of the diverse voices and stories that cinema can give us the opportunity to hear. An impressive debut from both Holmer and Hightower, The Fits marks them both as talented emerging artists whose careers deserve to be watched with anticipation.
Final Score: 8/10
