REVIEW: Fitting In, and why being a teenage girl is hell

Many of us might look back fondly on our teenage years, but for more than most it’s a period of our lives filled with embarrassment. Getting worked up over things that don’t matter, obsessing over dumb movies, worrying about whether someone likes you back or not instead of just asking them. It’s a period of time where most of us are trying lots of things for the first time, such as falling in love or exploring our sexual identity. But imagine if one trip to the doctor made it so much harder to accomplish any of those things.

Fitting In is a new Canadian film about a check-up that changes a teenage girl’s life. Lindy (played by Maddie Ziegler from Music) is the new girl in town. She’s athletic, made a few friends, and she’s got a crush on another boy (played by D’Pharoah Woon-A-Tai from Reservation Dogs). But when she decides she’s ready to start exploring sex, she ends up going to the gynecologist and learning that she has a condition called Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser syndrome, also known as M.R.K.H. Essentially, it means that she has a narrow vaginal canal and she doesn’t have a uterus. That means that she can’t get pregnant, she’ll never have a period, and penetrative sex will not happen easily.

Fitting In has a lot of throwbacks to classic horror films, including with an opening quote lifted directly from the underrated 2009 film Jennifer’s Body. But this film isn’t a horror film, it’s more of a conventional coming-of-age dramedy with some traumatic seasoning. Director Molly McGlynn (who previously made Mary Goes Round) tells me this is an incredibly personal film for her because she was diagnosed with M.R.K.H. syndrome as a teenager. She chose to make this because “it was always something I wanted to explore in a film, I just wasn’t ready to make this with a first feature.”

Fitting In is a confident film, one that knows that being a teenage girl is uneasy at the best of times and hell most of the time. Ziegler’s performance is excellent, she is a star in the making. Assured in the complexities of being a horny and emotionally confused teenager, Ziegler plays this character’s anxieties with breathtaking ease. McGlynn calls her “prepared, professional, kind, thoughtful, humble…and she’s good.” While it’s not clear if the two will work together again, I’m sure they would make many excellent films together if they so desired.

But what really makes this film is the supporting cast, especially the performance of D’Pharoah Woon-A-Tai. His character is quite interesting, because many teen films centered around a girl would depict a boyfriend that is uncaring or stupid. But McGlynn wrote this character to be more realistic. “I have five nephews, most of them are teenagers. And just seeing teenage boys, I didn’t want to write a villainous teenage boy because he’s just confused in this movie.” Woon-A-Tai’s performance is very emotional, focusing on the complexity of his burgeoning relationship. He cares, which is a very refreshing change from many teenage films.

But what really cements this film as a fantastic entry in 2024’s cinematic releases is the performance of Emily Hampshire (from Schitt’s Creek) as Lindy’s mother. Calling her “Canadian royalty,” McGlynn tells me it was a privilege to work with her. “I’ve never seen someone prep the way she does. Every single line she thinks about more so than I did!” Her performance is caring and empathetic, one of the more engrossing portrayals of motherhood this critic has ever seen. Hampshire is one of Canada’s finest working actors right now, and this is a truly impressive performance with pain, humour and immense love.

Fitting In is a fantastic film that all Gen Z people would enjoy watching, as would older generations. It does what good films do, which is to shed a light a something that’s not commonly known with an empathetic eye. With excellent performances and strong direction, this is a great film that is absolutely worth checking out. I give this a 4/5, you can watch it in cinemas now and you can watch my interview with Molly McGlynn below.