The Art of Self Defense review Fantasia 2019
Yes this is a horror site and this has been billed as a dark offbeat comedy from its marketing campaign but a film this dark with horror elements in the third act is sublime. First off. I was expecting this to be a Coens Bros esque movie which is was for the most part but imagine if they made Nightcrawler. This is what you would receive and it is glorious and the most metal film of the year. Jesse Essienberg gives the performance of his career as Casey facing his poor job at showing his masculinity and choosing karate to learn self confidence along with becoming the alpha male which is a hilarious bit because nowadays what is masculinity it’s changed so much from the 60’s, 70’s to now where we’ll you know it’s a very controversial subject in films and in the workplace as well. Back to the movie Imogen Poots is surreal in this film channeling her The Green Room days she has so much range from films like this and The Lonely Island movie she was in “Popstar” where she was flipping hilarious. I keep hearing from people in the industry that she is just a treasure. Also going back to the beginning of the review there are twist and turns to make this a horror story. It’s so well crafted and beautifully acted. From the supporting players like the scene stealing Phillip Andre from IFC Midnights “Pledge” and gosh darn it Alessandro Nivola deserves award talk for his performance as Sensei! This is a movie that screams for multiple viewings. I’ll see it again in theaters when it’s released nationwide July 19th!
5/5
Infamous Movies 