IndieWire
The Art of Self-Defense manages to clarify the filmmaker's intriguing vision by stuffing it into a remarkably unnerving character study.
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The Art of Self-Defense
Jesse 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.
2019Rating: R16, Violence, cruelty & offensive language104 minsUSA
ComedyFestival & Independent
The Art of Self-Defense / Reviews
A.V. Club
In a movie that often observes male dysfunction with some ironic distance, Eisenberg brings the satire closer to the bone.
Full reviewSan Francisco Chronicle
Stick with it... The Art of Self-Defense goes to interesting places.
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Vanity Fair
Riley Stearns's uneven satirical film has insight, bite, and a surprisingly candid turn from Jesse Eisenberg.
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BirthMoviesDeath
No comedy this nuanced could ever succeed without absolute consistency in the cast, and Stearns marshals his cast to subtle and uniformly excellent comic performances.
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Rolling Stone
Writer-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.
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Boston Globe
Mannered and remote, the movie throws a lot of punches but hardly ever connects.
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The Globe and Mail
The film's calm brutality is effective...The satire is a spinning wheel kick I didn't see coming. Black belts all around.
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Variety
"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.
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Hollywood Reporter
While the beats of its plot may be nothing very new, the tone, language and performances here make Self-Defense its own beast.
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