
IndieWire
The Art of Self-Defense manages to clarify the filmmaker's intriguing vision by stuffing it into a remarkably unnerving character study.
Full reviewJesse Eisenberg joins a karate dojo after being attacked on the street in this dark comedy from writer-director Riley Stearns (Faults).
After joinining the local dojo, led by a charismatic and mysterious Sensei (Alessandro Nivola, American Hustle), he uncovers a sinister world of fraternity, violence and hypermasculinity and a woman (Imogen Poots) fighting for her place in it.
LessThe Art of Self-Defense manages to clarify the filmmaker's intriguing vision by stuffing it into a remarkably unnerving character study.
Full reviewIn a movie that often observes male dysfunction with some ironic distance, Eisenberg brings the satire closer to the bone.
Full reviewStick with it... The Art of Self-Defense goes to interesting places.
Full reviewRiley Stearns's uneven satirical film has insight, bite, and a surprisingly candid turn from Jesse Eisenberg.
Full reviewNo comedy this nuanced could ever succeed without absolute consistency in the cast, and Stearns marshals his cast to subtle and uniformly excellent comic performances.
Full reviewWriter-director Riley Stearns gets in a few good licks at toxic masculinity before odious comparisons to David Fincher’s masterpiece blunt the film’s comic and dramatic impact.
Full reviewMannered and remote, the movie throws a lot of punches but hardly ever connects.
Full reviewThe film's calm brutality is effective...The satire is a spinning wheel kick I didn't see coming. Black belts all around.
Full review"The Art of Self-Defense" may be presented as an absurdist satire, but like the best American comedies... it doubles as a keen critique of our national character.
Full reviewWhile the beats of its plot may be nothing very new, the tone, language and performances here make Self-Defense its own beast.
Full reviewThe Art of Self-Defense is available to stream in Australia now on Google Play and Apple TV and Prime Video Store.
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