Thanks for the memories!

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

"The Fits" is a surrealist film and it should be seen as one. Not everyone is a fan of surrealism and that is why they dislike this movie so much, but do not be discouraged if you do not understand every part of "The Fits", it is meant to make you think. I will say, the acting is excellent, specifically the lead, and everything is beautifully shot. If you are seeing this movie and have never seen a surrealist film, do not be discouraged, instead look into surrealist film and use this movie as an example, because it's a wonderful one. 9/10 is a little high for me but I believe this movie is misunderstood and it deserves reviews from people who understand it or at least try to.

Who is Anna Rose Holmer? Well she's the writer and director of a 72 minute indie by the name of the "The Fits," which inexplicably has garnered a slew of accolades from a host of major critics. Like many fledgling indie directors, Holmer shows great promise in the technical area of filmmaking and The Fits doesn't disappoint when it comes to some great editing and cinematography. But as far as screen writing, Holmer doesn't have a clue how to develop characters or construct a plot featuring a modicum of suspense.Holmer's narrative is mainly shot in an inner city community center in Cincinnati, and her protagonist is one Toni, played by 11 year old Royalty Hightower, whom the critics have taken under their wing as cinema's next great child actor (I won't speculate as to why this has come to be—only to throw in my two cents that this is a young girl who lacks the requisite charm for placement in the pantheon of young, precocious, cinematic talent). The plot here (if there is one) concerns Toni's desire to join the Lionesses Dance Team, an all female pre-pubescent/teenage dance group that specializes in competitive dance drills. Toni finally makes the team, despite opposition from two older girls, who dislike outsiders infringing on their turf. In addition to the focus on choreography, there's the artificial intrusion of a plot point concerning some of the girls felled by seizures, fainting spells, which may or may not be blamed on contaminated drinking water inside the gym. The introduction of the "Fits"—the aforementioned seizures—does little to evoke suspense and awkwardly attempts to link the film's narrative to the horror genre.What then has captivated the critics about this very slight bauble of a film? Ty Burr, writing in the Boston Globe describes Toni's experience as a "rite of passage"—she's particularly impressed with a scene such as this one for some reason: " Toni piercing her ears in the community center's bathroom as her friends comment and help out."The NY Times critic, Mahnola Dargis, likes it because it's free of controversy: "The miracle of the movie is that, like Toni, it transcends blunt, reductive categorization partly because it's free of political sloganeering, finger wagging and force-fed lessons."Noel Murray writing in the A.V. Club feels that Toni's "awkward puberty" is a revelation: "For Toni, who practices and practices—fruitlessly—to move as gracefully and throw shade as fiercely as her peers, this new level of badass womanhood represents something else she may never be able to attain. The best she can do is to keep honing her own private, personal hybrid of fighting and stepping, while waiting for some inexplicable external force to define who she's going to be."Only Nikola Grozdanovic in IndieWire is on to something when he writes that Holmer is walking a very thin line between "special" and "disposable." Grozdanovic is perhaps the only brave enough critic to draw this damning conclusion about The Fits: " The emotional investment, fully rounded characters, and engaging events that are needed to make the film work on all fronts simply isn't there. Three writers (Holmer, Saela Davis, and Lisa Kjerluff) are credited for what turns out to be the film's Achilles' heel; and at some point on the way, it gets irreparably sprained."When all is said and done, The Fits is really a documentary masquerading as a short feature film. The subject matter is so slight that I wonder why its director was drawn to it in the first place. Director Holmer is guilty of perhaps a neophyte's hubris. With all the good scripts out there, why not work with someone who has an established track record or an exceptionally talented newcomer? Instead, it's the old indie film canard—a technical virtuoso attempting to develop a visually impressive but inert, intellectually barren script.

This movie was so awful that it has made me angry. Absolute waste of time. Zero entertainment. This movie is not for the average audience looking for an enjoyable movie. I can't understand what everybody commenting seems to have loved so much. I have never watched a worse movie in my life, and never will. The amount of disappointment that I am feeling right now cannot be put into words.Please do not waste your valuable time and money on this absolutely ridiculous train wreck of a movie. Writing this review is the first time in the past two hours that I have felt good, it is such a relief to be able to vent my frustrations about this stupid movie! Aaarrrghhh

"The Fits" (2015 release; 72 min.) brings the story of Toni, an 11 yr. old girl. As the movie opens, we see Toni doing push-ups and working out in the boxing gym alongside her older brother. But afterwards she watches a nearby dancer troupe doing their workouts, and it's clear Toni wants to join them. Toni's brother encourages her and it's not long before Toni enters a whole new world. To tell you more would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.Couple of comments: this is the debut full-length feature from writer-director Anna Rose Holmer. Here she picks a familiar topic (coming of age, fitting in and social acceptance), but Holmer brings it in a unique way, focusing on an 11 yr. old girl whom we watch as she tries to find her way. There is no dialogue to speak of during the first 20-25 minutes of the movie. Instead, we decipher all we need to know from Toni's face and body expressions. Newcomer Royalty Hightower as Toni as an absolute sensation. Did I mention that the entire cast of this film is African-American? (Interestingly, Holmer herself is not.) The movie is set entirely in Cincinnati's gritty West End neighborhood (much of the film being set at the Lincoln Community Center). As a complete aside, I also noticed in the opening credits that the movie is presented by the Biennale di Venezia, yes, the famous arts fest. Bottom line: "The Fits" is an abstract, yet very real comment on a young girl's coming of age, dealing with social acceptance and related challenges.The movie opened recently at my local art-house theater here in Cincinnati. The Tuesday evening screening where I saw this at was PACKED, to my great (but pleasant) surprise. The fact the movie was shot here surely had a lot to due with it. Equally surprising was to see how many young kids were in the audience. If you are on the fence, perhaps because the movie's short running time, please do yourself a favor and check this out, be it in the theater, on VOD or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray. You will thank me later.