Sleight
BH Tilt | Release Date: April 28, 2017 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
62
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 18 Critic Reviews
Positive:
10
Mixed:
7
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperApr 27, 2017
In a film about a magician, the most impressive trick in Sleight is how director and co-writer J.D. Dillard is able to spin such a memorable and unique tale on a micro-budget. Read full review
75
The Film StageJose SolísApr 29, 2017
Through focused, economic storytelling director J.D. Dillard turns Sleight into the rare kind of film that feels both familiar and unique. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comChristy LemireApr 28, 2017
It’s an auspicious debut from this up-and-coming filmmaker, who once worked as a receptionist for J.J. Abrams’ production company, Bad Robot. Read full review
75
MTV NewsAmy NicholsonApr 27, 2017
Dillard's not interested in the Zing! Pow! Bam! Sleight is quiet, almost naturalistic, even when Bo is stopping bullets with his bare hand. To Dillard, none of this is cool. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneKatie WalshApr 27, 2017
Sleight fuses superhero story with a tough coming-of-age tale, and it enlivens and elevates both genres into something new and different, while heralding the arrival of Latimore as a star. Read full review
75
The PlaylistRodrigo PerezNov 30, 2016
Sleight is imaginative and refreshing as it shape-shifts effortlessly through familiar narrative tropes and invents something unexpected and unique. Read full review
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)Emily YoshidaApr 28, 2017
The film lives and dies by Latimore’s performance, which is quiet and ever-shifting. Read full review
70
TheWrapRobert AbeleApr 27, 2017
Sleight is slight in the good way, because it floats along and draws your attention instead of yanking it by the collar. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterJustin LoweNov 30, 2016
Dillard’s auspicious shift to features reveals an imaginative young filmmaker prepared to take manageable risks in pursuit of his personal vision. Read full review
70
Screen DailyDavid D'ArcyNov 30, 2016
It has plenty of heart and lots of fighting, but could use a little more magic. Read full review
60
We Got This CoveredMatt DonatoApr 26, 2017
The magic here is in underground experiences and questionable decision making, all twisted like junky copper wiring that’s unraveled into something more useful. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleMarc SavlovMay 3, 2017
Like its protagonist, Sleight is a scrappy, semi-super origin story that lacks the existential heft of, say, M. Night Shyamalan’s "Unbreakable," or the grim comic nihilism of James Gunn’s "Super." Read full review
50
Movie NationRoger MooreMay 3, 2017
Sleight is a prestidigitation thriller that lives up to its title only if you misspell it. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubA.A. Dowd Apr 28, 2017
All the comic-book elements are accents; what we’re really watching is the highly conventional, highly familiar tale of a good guy trying to extricate himself from a bad situation, the life of crime he’s fallen into to provide for his family. There is a formula here. It’s just had a Tony Stark suit of armor thrown on top of it. Read full review
50
VarietyPeter DebrugeApr 28, 2017
Perhaps Dillard is too young or green to escape the recycled clichés that constitute the bulk of his script (co-written with Alex Theurer), and yet, charitably speaking, Sleight shows potential. Read full review
50
Entertainment WeeklyDarren FranichApr 27, 2017
You’d hope that a film like this could put a bold new spin on the superhero story. The reverse is true: Here we are in 2017, and even our nifty low-budget crime movies are building a cinematic universe, and saving the best stuff for the sequel. Read full review
50
Village VoiceApril WolfeApr 26, 2017
The director builds to one big, beautiful revelation. But the story he tells in the lead-up doesn’t distract so much as it politely asks you to stand up so that it can place the trick card under your ass. Read full review
25
Slant MagazineSam C. MacApr 24, 2017
Sleight never shows much interest in exploring how blackness can inform its genre's tropes. Read full review
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