One of our favorite films from this year’s Sundance Film Festival was Anna Rose Holmer‘s debut feature The Fits. Following a girl’s journey growing up in Cincinnati, more specifically at a rec center, we were taken aback by it’s visual approach, as seen in the first trailer, which debuted today. Thanks to Oscilloscope, they’ll be released in in June, making it one of the must-see films of the summer.
We said in our review, “An exploration of movement, motion, liminality, childhood and racial politics, The Fits is a fascinating psychological study of Toni (fearlessly played by Royalty Hightower), an 11-year-old living in Cincinnati’s West End. Set almost entirely within the walls of the neighborhood Lincoln Rec Center, we first find Toni taking up boxing, trained by older brother Jermaine (Da’Sean Minor). Abandoning the rigor of the boxing — requiring sprints across an overpass after hitting the speed-bag — Toni finds herself drawn to the dance troop practicing across the hall, where what she finds is nothing short of her voice.”
Check out the trailer and poster below, along with a talk with the director and the cast from ND/NF.
Eleven-year-old tomboy Toni (a showstopping 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.
The Fits opens on June 3rd.