The Art of Self-Defense
Bleecker Street Media | Release Date: July 12, 2019 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
65
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 32 Critic Reviews
Positive:
22
Mixed:
10
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Film ThreatBobby LePireMar 25, 2019
The Art Of Self Defense is set in a very peculiar world populated by eccentric characters. While that might turn some off, due to the vision of director Riley Stearns and his incredible production team, as well as a top-notch cast, the movie is as hilarious as it is unpredictable. It emerges as a strong early contender for best film of the year. Read full review
90
Arizona RepublicRandy CordovaJul 17, 2019
It’s a surprising film in many ways. Both for its thoughtfulness and the way the plot unfurls into thriller territory as Casey falls deeper under Sensei's spell. Read full review
90
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternJul 11, 2019
The film as a whole feels audacious and original, a case study of violence begetting more of the same, and Mr. Eisenberg is ideally cast as the soul of fearfulness, as well as the embodiment of mixed motives that include courage, lust for power and revenge. Read full review
90
VarietyPeter DebrugeMar 12, 2019
This singular black comedy balances off-kilter humor with an unexpectedly thriller-esque undercurrent, to the extent that audiences will find it tough to anticipate either the jokes or the dark, “Fight Club”-like turn things eventually take — all to strikingly original effect. Read full review
89
IGNMatthew DoughertyJul 10, 2019
One of the most original films of the year so far, The Art of Self-Defense is a searing critique of male violence, and the notion of power at large, told through a traditional kung fu flick set in present day America. Dryly funny, the film also carries a wisdom that makes Riley Stearns a talent to watch. Read full review
88
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Brad WheelerJul 18, 2019
The film’s calm brutality is effective. Plot-wise, some punches are telegraphed, while others are not. The satire is a spinning wheel kick I didn’t see coming. Black belts all around. Read full review
83
The Film StageJohn FinkMar 18, 2019
When the film works it veers into the domain of the uncomfortably hilarious as the maladjusted becomes a malcontent without a choice. Read full review
83
ConsequenceRandall ColburnMar 13, 2019
A singular work, brimming with ideas, by a budding visionary with a hell of a lot to say. Read full review
83
IndieWireEric KohnMar 12, 2019
Stearns’ tone involves a tricky negotiation between the melancholy and the macabre. “The Art of Self-Defense” doesn’t always pull that balance off, but it has enough ambition and wacky payoff to make the zany gamble worthwhile. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangJul 11, 2019
The more the shape of the story comes into focus in the final stretch, the less intriguing it becomes, although Eisenberg’s verbally and physically adroit performance never loses its unpredictable edge. Like any good martial artist, he knows just how to keep you off-balance. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleMatthew MonagleJul 10, 2019
In the end, the film is caught in a tug-of-war between absurdity and sincerity. Read full review
75
Movie NationRoger MooreJul 19, 2019
Stearns has still made us laugh through the grimaces for much of “The Art of Self-Defense,” and if nothing else, has given anyone — “Karate Kid” parents or adults — a veritable checklist of the warning signs that maybe this dojo isn’t for you, signs that perhaps the sensei doesn’t use the word “teacher” because what he really wants aren’t classes, but a cult. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comChristy LemireJul 12, 2019
A dark comedy that’s equal parts amusing and disturbing. Stearns is ambitious in the tricky tonal balance he aims to strike here – shocking us in detached, deadpan fashion – and his story wobbles a bit by the end, but the points he’s making couldn’t be clearer or timelier. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleJul 10, 2019
Written and directed by Riley Stearns, The Art of Self-Defense brings out a particularly skillful performance from Eisenberg, whose job is to harmonize the film’s odd shifts in tone and make something real and heartfelt of the central character’s journey. Read full review
70
Vanity FairK. Austin CollinsAug 6, 2019
A strange, uneven, but ultimately effective satire of masculinity. Read full review
70
The AtlanticDavid SimsJul 19, 2019
Eisenberg, Nivola, and a hilariously brusque Imogen Poots (as Sensei’s only female student) are more than up to the task of finding the comedy in scenes of nasty violence or brooding anxiety. Stearns, however, is less interested in balancing those tones than he is in exploiting their uneasy tension. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeMar 15, 2019
While the beats of its plot may be nothing very new, the tone, language and performances here make Self-Defense its own beast. Read full review
67
UproxxVince ManciniJan 2, 2020
Like The Art of Self-Defense as a whole, it’s glib and obvious in a way that leaves me a little cold. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyLeah GreenblattJul 12, 2019
In the final third, as the plot accelerates and moves toward more purely outrageous acts, Casey’s awakening should feel like freedom from the stultifying smallness of his old life. Instead, it mostly just feels like another kind of box, and an ugly one, too; less artful, all offense. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubJesse HassengerJul 8, 2019
In a movie that often observes male dysfunction with some ironic distance, Eisenberg brings the satire closer to the bone. Read full review
67
The PlaylistRyan OliverMar 12, 2019
While slight, yet accurate in his thesis, Stearns does what any good filmmaker should do to make that message stick: he makes us laugh. Read full review
63
LarsenOnFilmJosh LarsenJan 7, 2020
As things go very, very dark in the last third, the tone control starts to slip, eventually sliding away in the final moments, when what had been a sly critique of toxic masculinity turns preachy. Read full review
58
Original-CinLiam LaceyJul 19, 2019
At best, it’s no more than a puny version of David Fincher’s Fight Club. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneKatie WalshJul 17, 2019
Stearns grapples with notions of gender, violence and identity. But in this mannered, ironic take, his punches don't land hard enough to leave a mark. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeTy BurrJul 17, 2019
Casey is possibly on the spectrum, but one of the problems with The Art of Self-Defense is that all the other characters seem to be, too. Read full review
50
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanJul 16, 2019
At times, the movie struggles to maintain the critical balance between detachment from and engagement with the thing it’s making fun of. Read full review
50
ObserverRex ReedJul 15, 2019
The sum of the parts in martial arts on view here do not add up to a fascinating, consistently intelligent whole. You can write the plot on the head of an ice pick. Read full review
50
The New YorkerDavid DenbyJul 15, 2019
Even viewers who take their comedy black, without sugar, may wince at the violence that is doled out; Stearns raises laughs and then chokes them off. Read full review
50
Rolling StonePeter TraversJul 12, 2019
The Art of Self-Defense sets itself up as the 90-pound weakling destined to live forever in the shadow of "Fight Club." The good news is that 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. Read full review
50
New York PostJohnny OleksinskiJul 9, 2019
Director and writer Riley Stearns’ mediocre comedy aims to be a roundhouse kick at traditional masculinity, but doesn’t manage to take it down in any deep or insightful way. Read full review
40
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinJul 20, 2019
The only surprise is the level of violence — not just beyond "The Karate Kid" but beyond "Fight Club." The problem with that strategy is that unless you’re knocked out, you’re just grossed out and eager to go. You practice the art of self-defense against the movie. Read full review
40
The New York TimesA.O. ScottJul 10, 2019
The one halfway-interesting part of this movie is Nivola’s performance, which operates at both a deeper register of seriousness and a higher pitch of comedy than anything else. Read full review
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