Fitting In centers around 16-year-old Lindy, who is diagnosed with a rare reproductive condition, MRKH syndrome. The diagnosis disrupts her understanding of womanhood and sexual identity, and throws her relationships with her new boyfriend, her friends at her new high school, and her mother into disarray.
Fitting In is a 2023 Canadian coming-of-age comedy drama film written and directed by Molly McGlynn. It stars Maddie Ziegler, D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Djouliet Amara, and Emily Hampshire. The film was titled Bloody Hell in its first showing at SXSW. Several additional film festival showings are being presented in 2023. The film won the award for Best Canadian Film at the 2023 Vancouver International Film Festival.
Film Review for Fitting In
Fitting In is a Canadian-made traumedy written and directed by Molly McGlynn that follows Lindy, (Maddie Ziegler) a normal 16-year-old girl navigating the bizarre yet ubiquitous phenomenon of female adolescence, whose life is sent into a spin when a check-up at the gynecologist leads to an unexpected diagnosis.
Her doctor informs her that she was born with Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser (MRKH) Syndrome, a condition characterized by an underdeveloped vagina and uterus. In Lindy’s case, she is found to have ovaries but no uterus at all and a vagina that is only one inch deep.
The news inevitably sparks a multi-layered identity crisis characterized by the overwhelming realization that her life will not unfold as she’d imagined, which sets a curious coming-of-age story in motion.
Faced with the knowledge that she will never be able to carry a child, that sex will be even more complicated, and that her preconceived notions of womanhood would have to be dismantled and rebuilt, Lindy spirals into a teenage hell.
Maddie Ziegler’s performance is effortless and understated, and she depicts the torment of Lindy’s diagnosis with heartbreaking sensitivity and humour. Though discovering what it means to be a woman is not a novel form of cinematic exploration, Ziegler portrays with definitive insight an unusual brand of suffering; where the odyssey of early womanhood collides with the discovery of atypical biological characteristics, and where unfamiliar physical pain, invasive medical examinations and psychological distress exacerbate teenage angst.
In arguably the film’s most poignant scene, Lindy quietly sobs with childlike fear as a gaggle of newly qualified male doctors examine her with dumbfounded interest. Just one female physician offers comfort and relief to Lindy in a likely uncanny and familiar scenario for the majority of women watching.
Nonetheless, Fitting In’s attention-grabbing commentary and captivating performances are occasionally overshadowed by cheesy, generic and clumsy story telling. The film also trips over the subject of sexuality with disappointing predictability, seemingly conflating sexual orientation with biology as a means to drive the plot.
After making a gender non-conforming friend at a support group, Lindy confides in them and they soon develop a romantic relationship with one another. While it makes narrative sense that Lindy would turn to them for support, their romance feels ill-fitting and counter-intuitive because Lindy’s interest doesn’t originate from a place of well-established curiosity.
Instead, it appears to arise from the assumption that because she is, according to some definitions, biologically intersex, her sexuality must also diverge from what she had previously believed it to be. A strange depiction of queerness for a film that otherwise handles its subject matter with care.
Fitting In is far from perfect, but it does make an adept commentary about the need for more open conversations about female reproductive health in the fledgling stages of adulthood. While it is funny, it’s unlikely to induce belly laughs, though it is peppered with tear-jerking crescendos, it probably won’t send you grabbing for the tissues. Ziegler however, will certainly leave a lasting impression.
Fitting In (2024)
Directed by: Molly McGlynn
Starring: Maddie Ziegler, Emily Hampshire, Djouliet Amara, Ki Griffin, D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Dale Whibley, Michael Therriault, Christian Rose, Dennis Andres, Emma Hunter, Melody A. Johnson
Screenplay by: Molly McGlynn
Production Design by: Thea Hollatz
Cinematography by: Nina Djacic
Film Editing by: Maureen Grant
Art Direction by: Marcin Zach
Music by: Casey Manierka-Quaile
MPAA Rating: R for sexual content, language throughout, drug use and drinking – all involving teens.
Distributed by: Blue Fox Entertainment, Elevation Pictures
Release Date: March 13, 2023 (SXSW), February 2, 2024 (United States)
Visits: 18
