The Fits 2016

Toni is an eleven-year-old who trains with her brother Jermaine in the boxing gym at the Lincoln Community Center in Cincinnati. She notices a girls’ dance team practicing nearby and, through the door, watches two dancers move together with seemingly effortless rhythm. The next day, she slips into the empty gym and imitates their steps, catching Jermaine’s attention as he asks if she’s ready for more stairs training and gently encourages her to try out for the team.

At the tryouts, she observes the group among other hopefuls. The team captains, Legs and Karisma, begin teaching the and-and-clap back call, though the routine proves tricky for many. Toni keeps practicing in the still-empty gym, while Legs, later, pauses to refill water bottles and asks Toni to fetch them. She befriends Beezy and Maia, two other hopefuls who share the moment with her. Injuries and fear enter the room when Legs collapses and experiences a seizure, landing her in the hospital, and Karisma soon suffers a fainting fit of her own. Toni opens up to Jermaine about the seizures, and he cautions her not to imitate Karisma, remarking that she’s the wildest of them all.

As Toni throws herself into practice, a smile spreads across her face when she masters the dance routine. The following day brings a cancellation, but Toni and Beezy still explore the empty building and try on their new uniforms. They discuss the seizures and wonder aloud if something in their environment could be to blame, even joking about a potential “boyfriend disease.”

A supervisor later announces that officials suspect nothing wrong with the water after all, though rumors and concerns persist as more girls experience fits. News coverage follows, with a reporter detailing the ongoing “fits” and the health department’s involvement. Toni, Beezy, and Maia listen as an older group shares what their episodes felt like, and Maia admits she wants to know how the fits feel since they seem almost inevitable. During a practice session, Maia has another episode, and Toni accuses Beezy of implying Maia wanted it to happen.

An official informs the families that the water has been ruled out as the cause. Beezy is summoned to meet with a doctor, and Toni watches from the doorway as she begins to seize. Later, Beezy and Maia compare their experiences while Toni remains an attentive listener.

In a moment of solitude, Toni leaves practice to stand by an empty pool. As she moves back toward the gym, she begins to float, captivating the team as she drifts and flails with her eyes closed. The film cuts to montage moments of Toni and the dance team performing in uniform across the stairs, the gym, the boxing ring, and the empty pool. The floatation scene returns, and Toni eventually falls to the ground, opens her eyes, and smiles.