Royalty Hightower
The Fits
Co-Written and Directed by Anna Rose Holmer
Out June 3
Rating 5/5
The Fits begins and ends with Toni, a lanky teen tomboy who finds herself drawn to a drill team practicing at her local community center. Played by newcomer Royalty Hightower, Toni is used to spending time with her brother at the boxing gym, wrapping her hands and practicing hooks and jabs. But her attraction to the glamorous drill team overtakes her shyness and prompts her to cross over into their world. This push and pull of gendered spaces—the boxing gym versus the gymnasium; the quiet of the laundry room versus the chaos of the girls’ locker room; solitude versus sisterhood—creates a dramatic tension that reaches a crescendo when the older girls begin experiencing inexplicable seizures. Adults think it could be due to a contaminated water supply. But to the younger girls, it seems like an inevitable rite of passage, one that’s as scary as it is fascinating.
Although The Fits is a short 72 minutes, it bristles with energy that explodes in intricate choreography. It is also gorgeously shot, with Hightower impressively carrying all the emotional weight of the film in her face and body. The way she dresses and carries herself literally transforms as she negotiates different spaces, trying to figure out which one fits best. And it’s amazing to watch.
Check out the trailer below!
BOOB RATINGS 
omg amazing damn good just ok could be worse don’t bother
—
By Jenni Miller
This article originally appeared in the June/July 2016 print edition of BUST Magazine. Subscribe today!
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