Presented by Thai Express
The Art of Self-Defense
Directed by Riley Stearns
Official selection
South by Southwest 2019
Director
Riley Stearns
Writer
Riley Stearns
Cast
Jesse Eisenberg, Alessandro Nivola, Imogen Poots
Producer
Andrew Kortschak, Cody Ryder
Composer
Heather McIntosh
Editor
Sarah Beth Shapiro
contact
Pacific Northwest Pictures
Official website
“Dark, sinister, and disarmingly hilarious”Peter DeBruge, VARIETY
“Perfect casting meets a parable about gurus and disciples”John DeFore, HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
Casey Davies is an accountant. He is learning French. He eats alone at diners. He has a pet dachshund. He is often mistaken for a woman on the phone. He photocopies men’s magazines. His attempts to make friends at the office result in being his shunned. One night, Casey Davies is beaten and mugged by a group of masked men on motorcycles. His usual anxiety is compounded. He considers buying a gun; but then one day, he passes a karate school, and his life takes a strange and dark turn. Under the tutelage of Sensei, Casey begins to transform himself from a whimpering weakling to an aggressive douchebag, unaware that his new obsession will lead somewhere far beyond what he had in mind.
Riley Stearns’ sophomore feature is a twisted tale of the dangers of toxic masculinity on those men who seek it out in an attempt to assert unnecessary power. The more Casey pulls back the layers of Sensei’s teaching “methods”, the more he realizes that his newfound confidence comes from a sinister and disturbed source. Jesse Eisenberg’s jittery persona is perfectly suited to evoke Casey’s transformation, understated until the rage beneath his awkward demeanour lashes out. This is countered by Alessandro Nivola’s Sensei, a calm surface that hides a psychopathic rage, with Imogen Poots as a counterbalance of professionalism and resentment. Stearns once again leads us into those dark corners of American culture that we only glimpse out of the corner of our eye and too often ignore until it is too late. – Shelagh Rowan-Legg
Showings
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