The Art of Self-Defense

Casey, a shy accountant, is attacked one night on the street while walking out to buy dog food. He begins looking into buying a handgun, and while the paperwork is pending he signs up at a local karate school, where a charismatic and mysterious instructor known only as Sensei welcomes him warmly. Casey gains confidence under Sensei's guidance, but the dojo, its late-night lessons and its community of students conceal a harsher world built on violence and an exaggerated idea of masculinity.

Riley Stearns wrote and directed the film, his third feature after Casque and Faults and before Dual. Jesse Eisenberg plays Casey, with Alessandro Nivola as Sensei and Imogen Poots as Anna. Made for around two million dollars by the production company End Cue, it took in roughly the same amount worldwide.

The film received a critics' rating of 7.2 out of 10 from 171 reviews, while audiences rate it 6.6 out of 10 on IMDb from over forty thousand votes and 6.6 out of 10 on TMDB from a few hundred votes. Its genres are comedy, drama, mystery and thriller, and it runs 104 minutes.