Although the film is very much rooted in Lindy’s experience dealing with this medical issue, McGlynn’s script is never too bogged down with science talk. Instead, she finds humorous ways to educate Lindy—and, therefore, the audience—about the syndrome while also cleverly destigmatizing gynecological health and critiquing the coldness with which many (often male) doctors interact with their patients. “Fitting In” is a sweet, slightly angry clarion call for a world where frank conversations and abundant information about sexual, reproductive, and gynecological health become a more normalized part of the coming-of-age process.
Another film about a girl with a peculiar medical condition, “Vampire humaniste cherche suicidaire consentant (Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person),” writer/director Ariane Louis-Seize’s deadpan horror comedy debut, is “What We Do In The Shadows” for people who grew up loving the soft goth girl vibes of Emily The Strange and Lydia Deetz.
Set in a version of Montreal where vampires live in nuclear families that look very much like human families, we first meet the titular humanist vampire Sasha as a “young” girl on her birthday. Her family has a surprise for her: a birthday clown. Except he’s not just the entertainment; he’s her cake, too. However, something within Sasha prevents her from taking a bite. One visit with a vampire doctor later, and it’s established that rather than being compelled towards bloodsucking violence, Sasha’s brain is wired for empathy.
Not necessarily concerned with the nuts and bolts of the vampire world she’s created, Louis-Seize instead focuses on its haunting and beautiful visuals. Always clad in black, the raven-haired Sasha (Sara Montpetit), now in her “teen” years, is subsumed by her state of perpetual darkness, with Louis-Seize often framing her so that only her face is lit. As Sasha makes her way through nocturnal Montreal, neon-lit grocery stores, diners, and bowling alleys contrast against the dim interiors of her vampire world.