The Art of Self-Defense

"The Art of Self-Defense manages to clarify the filmmaker's intriguing vision by stuffing it into a remarkably unnerving character study."

"In a movie that often observes male dysfunction with some ironic distance, Eisenberg brings the satire closer to the bone."

"Stick with it... The Art of Self-Defense goes to interesting places."

"A wobbly sort-of satire..."

"Riley Stearns's uneven satirical film has insight, bite, and a surprisingly candid turn from Jesse Eisenberg."

"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."

"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."

"Mannered and remote, the movie throws a lot of punches but hardly ever connects."

"The film's calm brutality is effective...The satire is a spinning wheel kick I didn't see coming. Black belts all around."

"Bold but inconsistent, outrageous but not all that shocking..."

"Starring Jesse Eisenberg as you've only seen him before."

""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."

"While the beats of its plot may be nothing very new, the tone, language and performances here make Self-Defense its own beast."