The Fits
An 11-year-old tomboy enters a powerful Cincinnati dance community just as unexplained fainting spells make belonging feel dangerous.
Overview
A young girl navigates the complexities of acceptance and identity within a vibrant dance community.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Moderate
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- None
- intimate
- eerie
- kinetic
- quiet evening
- cinephile movie night
What critics said
Critics broadly acclaimed the film as a gripping, kinetic, and singular debut marked by meticulous psychological atmosphere and beguiling mystery.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Toni studies the dance team's drills, routines, confidence, and appearance, including piercing her ears, to become accepted by the older girls.
The girls' unexplained fainting spells spread through the dance team while the film withholds a definitive medical or supernatural explanation.
Dance rehearsals, drills, and bodily synchronization express the girls' power and Toni's changing relationship to the group.
The story centers on Toni's life in Cincinnati's West End and the close-knit girls' dance team that structures her social world.
Films like The Fits, and why
Pariah
shared intimate coming-of-age drama, adolescent identity formation, and lyrical psychological ambiguity
Beasts of the Southern Wild
shared childhood perspective, embodied movement, community dynamics, and atmospheric mystery
Girlhood
shared dance-centered self-discovery, female community, and intense physical performance
Mysterious Skin
shared enigmatic psychological atmosphere, youth culture, and formally distinctive independent filmmaking
Movie Details
- Director
- Anna Rose Holmer
- Release Date
- 2016-06-03
- Runtime
- 72 min
- Rating
- 6.4 / 10 (127)
Cast
- Royalty Hightower
- Alexis Neblett
- Makyla Burnam
- Da'Sean Minor
- Inayah Rodgers
- Antonio A.B. Grant Jr.
- Lauren Gibson
- Shonte Jackson
- Mangel Moore
- Kaliyah Johnson
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Philo, Fandor Amazon Channel
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is The Fits about?
- An 11-year-old tomboy enters a powerful Cincinnati dance community just as unexplained fainting spells make belonging feel dangerous.
- What is The Fits like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Fits as measured, its intensity as moderate and its storytelling as layered.
- Is The Fits violent?
- No — Ember's analysis finds no violence in The Fits.
- What did critics think of The Fits?
- Critics broadly acclaimed the film as a gripping, kinetic, and singular debut marked by meticulous psychological atmosphere and beguiling mystery.
- Which films are like The Fits?
- Films with a similar feel include Pariah, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Girlhood, and Mysterious Skin.
- How long is The Fits?
- The Fits runs 72 minutes.
- Where can I watch The Fits?
- In United States, The Fits streams on Philo, Fandor Amazon Channel.
