The Art of Self-Defense

2019 • 1h 44m •

Comedy Thriller Drama Mystery

MOVIEVIBE Rating

★ 6.6/10

866 reviews

Your Rating

Casey is attacked at random on the street and enlists in a local dojo led by a charismatic and mysterious Sensei in an effort to learn how to defend himself. What he uncovers is a sinister world of fraternity, violence and hypermasculinity and a woman fighting for her place in it.

Top Billed Cast

Jesse Eisenberg

Casey

Alessandro Nivola

Sensei

Imogen Poots

Anna

Steve Terada

Thomas

David Zellner

Henry

Phillip Andre Botello

Kennith

Jason Burkey

Alex

Mike Brooks

Steve

Detailed Critic & Audience Reviews

S SWITCH. Verified TMDB Critic

2019-09-08

‘The Art of Self-Defense’ is a truly funny, dark experience that will polarise audiences, hopefully leaving most of them satisfied. Just try not to think about it too much.
- Ashley Teresa

Read Ashley's full article...
https://www.maketheswitch.com.au/article/review-the-art-of-self-defense-a-satire-as-pitch-black-as-a-karate-belt...

G Gimly Verified TMDB Critic

2020-01-17

I went in expecting mumblecore, but got more of a Wes Anderson (which, to be fair, a primary influence of mumblecore). Wes Anderson almost always has violence in his movies, but probably nothing so brutal as _The Art of Self-Defense_. I thought that the whole movie would essentially be setting up Eisenberg as an awkward, meek nerd, who at the very end would go uber-violent, and the joke that they bothered to make a movie for would essentially be "You didn't think this guy would punch very good but then he does". Happy to say, I was wrong. Not only does Eisenberg punch pretty good on actually m...