‘Fitting In’ Movie Review: A Sensitive, Candid Coming-of-Age Story With A Difference
Photo from Blue Fox Entertainment
From Jeremy Kibler
Molly McGlynn’s Fitting In is more than just an “Afterschool Special” for teens wanting to have sex for the first time. It’s a semi-autobiographical coming-of-age story from writer-director McGlynn that wants to normalize personal disclosures as far as reproductive systems are concerned. After opening quotes from Simone De Beauvoir and Diablo Cody, the film proceeds to take on sensitive subject matter with a refreshing candidness, humor, and understanding.
16-year-old track-and-field athlete Lindy (Maddie Ziegler) just wants to have sex with skater boyfriend Adam (D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai). When she goes to a health clinic to get on birth control, she understands why she hasn’t had her period yet, unlike best friend Vivian (a vivacious Djouliet Amara) or any other girl her age. Lindy is diagnosed with MRKH syndrome, a rare congenital disorder where she was born with ovaries but not a uterus, cervix, and vaginal canal (or at least much of one). Her unhelpful gynecologist gives her a box of vaginal dilators to stretch herself out for three to eighteen months. Lindy also tries attending an inclusive LGBT+ peer support group. She doesn’t know how to tell anyone—not that she needs to—and hides her truth to feel “normal.”
Fitting In tells a story that’s worth telling and doesn’t just feel like the live version of an “eat your vegetables” health pamphlet. If Sia’s misguided directorial debut Music was not the right fit, this decidedly showcases Maddie Ziegler’s emotional depth as a dramatic performer. She has an inviting presence already, but Ziegler gets the chance to dig a little deeper. As Lindy, she has to navigate not only a teen’s universal insecurities but also a medical diagnosis that biologically seals her child-rearing fate. Emily Hampshire is also very strong, balancing a liberal spikiness and a loving warmth as Lindy’s single mother Rita, a therapist and breast cancer survivor whose husband left when Lindy was very young.
Even as the third act is the stuff of teen melodrama with arguments and make-ups, there is a compelling and honestly personal perspective to all of it. Lindy’s burgeoning relationship with non-binary, intersex classmate Jax (Ki Griffin) could have been contrived, but it’s handled with compassion and honesty. Little flourishes—like Lindy watching Canadian teen-werewolf classic Ginger Snaps with Adam, Lindy’s committed Carrie White costume for Halloween, and a medical dildo-trying montage cued to Peaches’ “Fuck the Pain Away”—even bring an edgy specificity. As the title may or may not be a sexual innuendo, Fitting In explores the gray area within sexual identity with the necessary emotional weight and levity.
Rating: 3.5/5
Fitting In is currently in theaters.
