Fitting In mines a traumatic, rare reproductive abnormality diagnosis for laughs and tears in director Molly McGlynn’s second feature film, starring Maddie Ziegler as a teen who must confront her new health reality.
With incisive storytelling, pathos, and humour, Fitting In is the semi-autobiographical tale of a teenage girl grappling with a rare health diagnosis.
Molly McGlynn’s follow-up to her acclaimed debut, Mary Goes Round (TIFF ’17), opens with a quote from screenwriter Diablo Cody: “Hell is a teenage girl.” But that descriptor can also work as “Hell is a teenage girl in a gynecologist’s exam.”
Maddie Ziegler stars as Lindy, who has moved into her grandmother’s old house with her single mom Rita (Emily Hampshire) and is in the early days of deciding to have sex with her boyfriend Adam (Reservation Dogs star D’Pharoah Woon-A-Tai).
She is brought to the doctor’s office to get a prescription for birth control. One physical exam later, a cold and unfeeling male gynecologist delivers news that will turn Lindy’s world upside down.
She is diagnosed with the rare reproductive abnormality called Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser syndrome, which means she doesn’t have a uterus or cervix and has a shortened vaginal canal.
While other high school kids are competing in sports, dating, having sex, and going to parties, Lindy is spiralling and pushing away all her previous sources of trust and comfort, like Adam, her best friend, and her starring track and field spot.
In its portrayal of Lindy learning how to confront her new health reality, Fitting In tells a story about bodily autonomy with laughter, angst, and authenticity.
KELLY BOUTSALIS
Official Selection, 2023 Toronto International Film Festival
Content advisory: sexual content
As the inaugural Sloan Science on Film Showcase selection, Fitting In tells a coming-of-age story shaped by medical science. Following the September 12 screening, the Sloan Science on Film Showcase will feature a Q&A with writer-director Molly McGlynn and an expert in reproductive health.
Funding for the Science on Film Showcase is provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation’s Public Understanding of Science and Technology program, which supports books, radio, film, television, theatre, and new media to reach a wide, non-specialized audience and to bridge the two cultures of science and the humanities.