Oscilloscope Laboratories Picks Up Sundance Film “The Fits” Starring Royalty HightowerPosted by Wilson Morales
January 21, 2016
Source: Variety
As the 2016 Sundance Film Festival gets rolling starting today, one film that has already been picked up for distribution is the dance drama “The Fits,” starring newcomer Royalty Hightower.
According to Variety, “the debut feature from director Anna Rose Holmer was developed and produced through the 2014/15 edition of the Venice Biennale Cinema College program and world premiered at the Venice Film Festival last year. Oscilloscope will release the film theatrically in the summer, where it will first open in New York’s new Metrograph theater.”
Tomboy boxer Toni (newcomer Royalty Hightower) lands a spot on an after school dance team in the West End community of Cincinnati. Enamored by the power and confidence of the team, Toni eagerly absorbs routines, masters drills, and even pierces her own ears to fit in. As she discovers the joys of dance and of female camaraderie, she grapples with her individual identity amid her newly defined social sphere.
Shortly after Toni joins the team, the captain faints during practice. By the end of the week, most of the girls on the team suffer from episodes of fainting, swooning, moaning, and shaking in a seemingly uncontrollable catharsis. Triggered by her own insecurities, Toni questions the cause of “the fits.” Soon, however, the girls on the team embrace these mystical spasms, transforming them into a rite of passage. Toni fears experiencing the fits, but also fears losing her new friendships as a result of remaining left out of the transcendental experience. She has to decide how far she needs to go to maintain her niche on the team.
