The Art of Self-Defense (2019)
After he's attacked on the street at night, timid bookkeeper Casey joins a neighborhood karate studio. Under the watchful eye of a charismatic instructor, Sensei, and hardcore brown belt Anna, Casey gains a newfound sense of confidence for the first time in his life. But when he attends Sensei's mysterious night classes, he discovers a sinister world of fraternity, brutality and hyper-masculinity, presenting a journey that places him squarely in the sights of his enigmatic new mentor.
Country: USA
Directed By: Riley Stearns
Written By: Riley Stearns
Starring: Alessandro Nivola, Leland Orser, Jesse Eisenberg, David Zellner, Imogen Poots, Jason Burkey, Phillip Andre Botello, Steve Terada, Hauke Bahr, Dallas Edwards, Mike Brooks, C.J. Rush
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The Art of Self-Defense belongs to 8 collections
1. boobs (public: moderated by Pickpocket - 47 stars)
2. Black Comedy (public: moderated by Dorkovsky - 28 stars)
3. Films available in HD (public: moderated by kubricksucks - 12 stars)
4. Male Frontal Nudity (public: moderated by bobyang - 7 stars)
5. Full Male Frontal Nudity (Yes, Dick!) (public: moderated by iceblox - 4 stars)
6. Netflix Sverige (public: moderated by Jakobostgren - 1 star)
7. 30th Stockholm International Film Festival (2019) ☑ (public: moderated by 5Z5qjRCfM2)
8. NZIFF 2019 (private: adwilson)
Browse the full list of collections
| Date | User | Rating | |
| May 04 | piash128 | 70 0% |
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| Apr 30 |  |
iamianiman | 74 84% |
| Apr 19 |  |
meltem | 70 53% |
| Apr 18 | nouidle | 3 48% |
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| Apr 14 | jarno | 20 37% |
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| Apr 12 | myus3rn4m3 | 58 13% |
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| Apr 11 |  |
daffodil907 | 61 42% |
| Apr 10 |  |
bisterd | 81 44% |
| Apr 10 | Dirky | 70 18% |
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| Apr 04 | coldesser | 70 0% |
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| Apr 03 | krulltott | 50 28% |
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| Apr 02 |  |
Budhisattva | 71 35% |
| Mar 30 | vicorio | 75 76% |
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| Mar 26 |  |
tatarbey | 73 43% |
| Mar 22 | andrewnguyen | 70 34% |
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| Mar 21 |  |
andayb | 60 47% |
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i tried to enjoy this giving no heed to allusions, or the so-called satire it tries to do. it sort of stands on its own as a quirky comedy. it's weird and off-kilter enough to stand out of the crowd. there are some pacing issues and the core idea might be stretched a bit, probably would be better for an episode of tv series. eisenberg's getting typecast, i guess, but really becomes these neurotic characters he's portraying.
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| Mar 16 | AndersF | 57 41% |
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| Mar 15 |  |
Charlie | 65 42% |
| Mar 14 |  |
michaels | 30 10% |
| Mar 14 |  |
lionesque | 55 42% |
| Mar 13 | 4K4GI | 63 10% |
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| Mar 06 | spacefloh | 50 34% |
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ger; [the art of self-defence]; ein buchhalter wird brutal zusammengeschlagen und tritt darauf hin einem karate-club bei - doch als er in dem nachtkurs teilnimmt kommen ihm zweifel am sensei auf.;
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| Mar 06 | Tan Solo | 75 65% |
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| Feb 24 | Ottibär | 65 46% |
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| Feb 18 | sl0play | 69 33% |
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| Feb 04 | jaredmundt | 70 0% |
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| Feb 04 | redcricket | 100 94% |
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Napoleon Dynamite meets Cobra Kai, but much darker. A dark comedy.
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| Feb 03 | cyber_turnip | 70 72% |
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| Feb 03 | nixols | 5 2% |
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| Jan 31 |  |
anugrah | 65 24% |
| Jan 22 |  |
CoinQuatro | 70 74% |
| Jan 20 | Loucas98 | 60 28% |
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| Jan 15 | testaccount5 | 7 54% |
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| Jan 10 |  |
budinjm | 70 58% |
| Jan 10 |  |
Dunstan-xxx | 67 56% |
| Jan 09 |  |
Grumblebutt | 75 47% |
| Jan 03 | false10 | 70 0% |
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| Dec 30, 2020 | Ella May | 70 50% |
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Interesting satire, funny but also unsettling at times. A karate school turns out to be much more than it seems after our mild-mannered protagonist decides to take lessons for self-protection and ironically gets drawn into a dark, mafia-like underworld.
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| Dec 27, 2020 | nosharing | 70 47% |
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| Dec 22, 2020 |  |
sarp | 80 79% |
| Dec 20, 2020 | SlavišaFilm | 74 33% |
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| Dec 14, 2020 | ssabetti | 93 91% |
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| Dec 09, 2020 | zyperman43 | 60 0% |
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| Dec 08, 2020 |  |
RTAudience | 63 45% |
| Dec 06, 2020 | mpf2788 | 80 0% |
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| Dec 06, 2020 |  |
howler19 | 61 67% |
| Dec 03, 2020 | anitageorgev | 70 29% |
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| Nov 25, 2020 | dragos | 60 0% |
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| Nov 08, 2020 | ik55 | 74 59% |
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A painfully Eisenbergesque movie. A very slow, not that I usually mind, dark comedy. Casey's character development was quite weak, sometimes off, throughout the movie. But they somehow managed to win me over on the last act, which I quite enjoyed. The overall weird atmosphere kept me interested.
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| Oct 17, 2020 | movieguy2121 | 60 0% |
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| Oct 13, 2020 | John Marston | 78 32% |
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| Oct 10, 2020 | danielkh48 | 70 59% |
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| Oct 04, 2020 | Spaceman | 75 42% |
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| Oct 02, 2020 | filmfan | 50 22% |
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| Sep 30, 2020 | idankor | 90 55% |
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| Sep 29, 2020 | imawatch | 82 41% |
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| Sep 24, 2020 | szyz | 76 35% |
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| Sep 20, 2020 |  |
boriaj | 50 18% |
| Sep 04, 2020 | ffosb22 | 74 47% |
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| Sep 01, 2020 |  |
melancholiaa | 75 67% |
| Aug 30, 2020 | mefeçe | 50 12% |
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| Aug 30, 2020 | deezed | 90 74% |
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| Aug 29, 2020 | Phyne | 80 67% |
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| Aug 24, 2020 | Trombone | 40 37% |
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| Aug 23, 2020 |  |
zairakas | 60 62% |
| Aug 22, 2020 |  |
Luk92 | 80 75% |
| Aug 22, 2020 | Tsax47 | 90 72% |
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| Aug 21, 2020 |  |
msprague | 76 79% |
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A satisfying punch to the solar plexus.
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| Aug 16, 2020 | Fllu | 40 0% |
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| Aug 09, 2020 |  |
pck00 | 90 84% |
| Aug 09, 2020 |  |
tk421dom | 70 66% |
| Aug 08, 2020 |  |
RiverRivers | 67 52% |
| Aug 08, 2020 | littleberk | 7 40% |
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| Jul 29, 2020 | z10yniger | 80 80% |
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| Jul 27, 2020 | DirkParker | 50 7% |
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| Jul 25, 2020 |  |
Sesilya | 71 38% |
| Jul 25, 2020 |  |
fzycow | 85 49% |
| Jul 25, 2020 | hubergl7 | 80 0% |
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| Jul 25, 2020 |  |
morphinapg | 46 7% |
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This unfortunately didn't work for me. It sucks, because I think with a few modifications, this could have been really well. There are some good jokes in there, and some good story ideas, and even some parts of the ending are well built up, but overall it just felt underwhelming. It felt like it was missing something. Like the characters could have been developed further, or something. Hard to describe exactly what I think went wrong.
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| Jul 23, 2020 |  |
gigafan | 65 22% |
| Jul 20, 2020 |  |
addeh | 70 62% |
| Jul 20, 2020 |  |
kadikoy | 55 35% |
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Karate ve öz güven üzerine 1 film. Beyaz yakalı kimsesiz 1 genç, köpeğine mama alınca, motorsikletli 1 çete yüzünden darp edilir. Genç, karate öğrenmeye karar verir. Ondan sonra karate salonunda olaylar olaylar. Kadına şiddeti yüzeysel anlatsa da, konu klişeye kayıyor. Jesse Eisenberg niye ezik rolleri seçiyor? Filmin sonunda, genç intikamını alıyor. Beni kalbimden vurdun. Böyle ölüm vuruşu mu olur aga.
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| Jul 19, 2020 |  |
MrBlackTron | 51 15% |
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Fazlasıyla özgün, eşi benzeri olmayan kara mizah. Anlatılmak istenen çok değişik bir yol seçilerek anlatılmış. Oyuncular ve oyunculuklar son derece başarılı.
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| Jul 18, 2020 |  |
Marcos92 | 88 85% |
| Jul 18, 2020 | critickerMCM | 71 32% |
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| Jul 17, 2020 | martin! | 73 58% |
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| Jul 17, 2020 |  |
wgwolford | 60 31% |
| Jul 14, 2020 | anonm | 70 29% |
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| Jul 12, 2020 | mjoc0723 | 70 77% |
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| Jul 06, 2020 |  |
Kortee | 66 49% |
| Jul 06, 2020 | inzzzomnia | 3 53% |
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| Jun 27, 2020 |  |
jeremyjacob | 70 71% |
| Jun 26, 2020 | marasdfg | 90 83% |
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| Jun 26, 2020 | dantoyang | 60 26% |
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| Jun 22, 2020 |  |
paulofilmo | 70 59% |
| Jun 18, 2020 | tcclemson | 35 46% |
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| Jun 07, 2020 |  |
vesupria | 6 61% |
| May 31, 2020 |  |
ThereminJam | 80 53% |
| May 30, 2020 | Thejaff | 72 52% |
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| May 28, 2020 |  |
ulashbulut | 65 20% |
| May 27, 2020 | armutvepilav | 70 40% |
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| May 25, 2020 | pachodomi | 80 81% |
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| May 23, 2020 | VTJoker | 75 56% |
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| May 23, 2020 | HakkaMex | 7 70% |
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| May 16, 2020 |  |
Flitskonijn | 50 0% |
| May 15, 2020 |  |
DaxV | 68 44% |
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I expected something a lot different from this. It turned out to be a pretty interesting dark comedy. I enjoyed the pace and the stoic nature, which set up for some good punchlines (no pun intended). It does drag a bit here and there, but has a pretty distinct mood that does ease into that. A plesant surprise.
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| May 14, 2020 |  |
PianoSama | 65 48% |
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A black comedy that, while pretty heavy-handed in its themes, succeeds because of three strong performances & a kooky sense of humor, it's still a very mixed bag in terms of overall writing & story. While everything does come together in the end, it's perhaps not in the best of ways, & the progressively darker tone might be hit or miss for many. Eisenberg, Nivola, & Poots shine, & their characters are intriguing, but something's missing. It's enjoyable enough, but also misses the mark at times.
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| May 14, 2020 |  |
Vaudevillian | 90 67% |
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I love the darkness this film lives in.
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| May 14, 2020 | yousefmo22 | 60 0% |
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| May 13, 2020 |  |
JLFM | 45 18% |
| May 11, 2020 |  |
cinema_hell | 70 33% |
| May 08, 2020 |  |
Dthepyek | 41 35% |
| May 06, 2020 |  |
KMcNeil | 6 56% |
| May 04, 2020 | gzg06 | 70 27% |
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| May 04, 2020 |  |
capodelnulla | 55 31% |
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karanlığı ve eleştirisi donuk mizahla iyi öne çıkartan, keyifli bir seyirlik.
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| May 03, 2020 |  |
Jerky | 65 83% |
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I wonder if the director was a fan of Community? (Kick-puncher anyone?) A very black comedy, with very few jokes. The comedy comes from the strange dialogue / character interactions. Hard to recommend to anyone, but easy to enjoy in more doses.
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| May 02, 2020 | funndude | 75 42% |
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| May 01, 2020 | daxxdog | 77 40% |
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| Apr 26, 2020 | Peter_Pain | 74 72% |
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| Apr 22, 2020 | AEMB0T | 88 93% |
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| Apr 19, 2020 |  |
Mirelurk | 75 66% |
| Apr 19, 2020 |  |
AAAutin | 72 86% |
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(FOOT FIST CLUB)
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| Apr 18, 2020 | vasseikon | 76 42% |
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| Apr 17, 2020 |  |
Uatu | 3 70% |
| Apr 14, 2020 | toro913 | 61 63% |
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| Apr 12, 2020 | sprfede | 40 12% |
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| Apr 10, 2020 |  |
alakota | 73 49% |
| Apr 07, 2020 | ajfrommn | 9 87% |
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| Apr 03, 2020 |  |
Coso | 76 55% |
| Apr 02, 2020 |  |
sebby | 60 45% |
| Apr 01, 2020 | libertylunch | 70 3% |
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| Mar 31, 2020 | lezparanza | 71 71% |
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| Mar 30, 2020 |  |
deerme | 70 26% |
| Mar 30, 2020 | leemarvins | 78 58% |
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| Mar 29, 2020 |  |
TheShiznit | 49 56% |
| Mar 18, 2020 | dpwlist | 75 31% |
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| Mar 14, 2020 | Skerringer | 70 65% |
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| Mar 14, 2020 |  |
RobertKelly | 81 63% |
| Mar 14, 2020 | matthagen | 70 84% |
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| Mar 06, 2020 |  |
Quintonjamin | 60 51% |
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Some great laughs, but it can become boring because of the large amount of time between laughs. At this point, you either like Jesse Eisenberg or you don't.
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| Mar 05, 2020 | EntropicApp | 90 0% |
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| Feb 28, 2020 | chengming | 45 16% |
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What a great topic for a comedy this would be! But alas, besides a few (few!) mildly (mildly!) amusing riffs on being bros, this is a terrible movie. Cheap production design and images, underdeveloped characters, absolutely inane storyline.
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| Feb 25, 2020 | whatevername | 70 67% |
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| Feb 25, 2020 | Gabriel_p | 70 40% |
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| Feb 22, 2020 | cfa () | 80 60% |
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| Feb 20, 2020 |  |
stoned | 75 45% |
| Feb 20, 2020 |  |
babyyoda | 52 41% |
| Feb 20, 2020 |  |
bookhouseboy | 25 20% |
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#20#, exp3, rw2, story, Imogen.P!
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| Feb 18, 2020 | 4kiraL | 60 40% |
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| Feb 18, 2020 | strangelime | 50 7% |
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| Feb 17, 2020 |  |
Dumptruk4Lif | 81 59% |
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Sets up so many great things only to be resolved in an uninspired way. I really liked the strange world of the story and its very contorted interactions and behaviors, but this too suddenly changes to something forced and pedestrian in order to fulfill a twist that everyone could see coming but hoped wouldn't be. It sucks that a small portion of the plot could ruin what up until then I really enjoyed, but it set up too much that needed to be resolved as creatively as the movie had been before.
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| Feb 16, 2020 |  |
Matthew Parkinson (CineMarter) | 70 77% |
| Feb 13, 2020 |  |
deliosadel | 63 15% |
| Feb 10, 2020 | S717W | 81 64% |
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| Feb 10, 2020 | jjack229 | 52 19% |
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| Feb 03, 2020 |  |
pustota | 65 47% |
| Feb 03, 2020 |  |
MichaelMan99 | 82 69% |
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Very satisfying dark comedy
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| Jan 31, 2020 |  |
dewall | 72 61% |
| Jan 30, 2020 | qualsh | 70 40% |
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| Jan 30, 2020 |  |
SheWas | 50 47% |
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Fight-club without the lols
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| Jan 28, 2020 | Hennimore | 68 39% |
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| Jan 25, 2020 |  |
goookce | 75 48% |
| Jan 24, 2020 |  |
stuie299 | 60 17% |
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The satisfying ending manages to turn a bad movie into an almost ok movie. For the most part it goes after very low hanging fruit with its lazy satirization of toxic masculinity. IMO the film is way too dry to foster laughs, which is a shame, because deadpan comedy, when done right, can be absolutely hilarious. Despite some good performances the movie ultimately fails due to its inescapably on the nose comparison to fight club.
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| Jan 20, 2020 |  |
Shadrik | 73 61% |
| Jan 19, 2020 | Joey90 | 75 42% |
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| Jan 19, 2020 |  |
erkam | 65 41% |
| Jan 18, 2020 |  |
heapshake | 75 79% |
| Jan 18, 2020 |  |
WWallce4prez | 71 48% |
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An ultra-dark comedy that riffs on some of the same machismo concepts that something like Fight Club does, but in a much more absurd way. Several laugh out loud moments are the highlights, while the second half becomes bit predictable in its chaos.
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| Jan 17, 2020 | johns32768 | 50 74% |
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| Jan 17, 2020 |  |
TychoCelchuu | 76 30% |
| Jan 16, 2020 |  |
hemestnt | 85 63% |
| Jan 15, 2020 |  |
inmate | 79 58% |
| Jan 15, 2020 | jonzuckerman | 15 3% |
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| Jan 14, 2020 |  |
barisius | 50 9% |
| Jan 13, 2020 |  |
Vokalbum | 73 74% |
| Jan 12, 2020 |  |
Paxton | 68 52% |
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Lite Club
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| Jan 12, 2020 |  |
warrensm | 67 44% |
| Jan 12, 2020 | awesomejohn | 85 54% |
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| Jan 09, 2020 |  |
rklenseth | 70 59% |
| Jan 08, 2020 |  |
bearmaster | 75 67% |
| Jan 08, 2020 | qwertyes | 65 52% |
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| Jan 08, 2020 | Jlschnei | 75 63% |
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| Jan 08, 2020 | austinvdubs | 83 39% |
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| Jan 07, 2020 | vesuvius | 70 70% |
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| Jan 06, 2020 |  |
nforvendetta | 71 78% |
| Jan 05, 2020 | freyr_rabbit | 50 5% |
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| Jan 05, 2020 |  |
Enverovic | 36 7% |
| Jan 05, 2020 |  |
VeLiKi | 80 47% |
| Jan 04, 2020 |  |
Skippey | 66 53% |
| Jan 03, 2020 |  |
AFlickering | 5 79% |
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the killing of a sacred dachshund. i totally agree with sellis' criticisms--the third act makes stearns' deficiencies abundantly clear--but i just can't resist all these exquisitely-pitched lanthimosy shenanigans enough to give an objective score.
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| Jan 02, 2020 |  |
tinychris | 12 40% |
| Jan 02, 2020 |  |
SpaceSpiff | 72 9% |
| Jan 01, 2020 | mattornot | 15 60% |
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| Jan 01, 2020 | damhar | 70 54% |
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| Jan 01, 2020 |  |
HiResDes | 75 59% |
| Dec 31, 2019 |  |
tom20 | 70 30% |
| Dec 31, 2019 | roscoe_1891 | 80 60% |
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| Dec 30, 2019 | Malcym | 4 16% |
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| Dec 30, 2019 |  |
bof | 67 53% |
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Fun satire on masculinity - Fight Club by way of Jeremy Saulnier, though not quite up there with either.
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| Dec 30, 2019 | mmert9008 | 70 40% |
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| Dec 26, 2019 |  |
tsumanne | 55 29% |
| Dec 24, 2019 | JZ17 | 74 51% |
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| Dec 24, 2019 |  |
Maaxwell | 50 24% |
| Dec 23, 2019 | kissgyozi | 65 30% |
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| Dec 22, 2019 | TheDude774 | 80 41% |
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| Dec 22, 2019 | mzonder | 60 47% |
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| Dec 22, 2019 | nendan22 | 71 29% |
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| Dec 22, 2019 |  |
Darren | 75 63% |
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The style of comedy doesn’t always pay off but Eisenberg really has a knack for this kind of thing
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| Dec 20, 2019 | kappaross123 | 95 70% |
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| Dec 19, 2019 | deluxe1 | 55 25% |
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| Dec 18, 2019 | goodedward | 49 13% |
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| Dec 18, 2019 | UXX3 | 80 84% |
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| Dec 18, 2019 |  |
EmreZabun3 | 70 50% |
| Dec 16, 2019 |  |
JohnSandwich | 60 41% |
| Dec 15, 2019 |  |
Sakujo | 80 44% |
| Dec 14, 2019 | Jorg | 60 27% |
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| Dec 14, 2019 |  |
meltemcilik | 60 32% |
| Dec 14, 2019 |  |
Bown | 75 41% |
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A funny and thoughtful movie with good things to say about toxic masculinity but that overall doesn’t really leave much of an impact.
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| Dec 13, 2019 |  |
jmarkthespot | 65 63% |
| Dec 12, 2019 | bubib | 70 60% |
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| Dec 11, 2019 |  |
korbenPL | 43 48% |
| Dec 09, 2019 | Contreras | 4 77% |
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| Dec 09, 2019 | lefterisd99 | 70 59% |
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| Dec 09, 2019 |  |
FR6 | 70 47% |
| Dec 08, 2019 |  |
chmul_cr0n | 71 59% |
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Nicely weird. A lot of people seem to think is about toxic masculinity. Which only proves how narrow-mindedly some people watch movies by reducing everything to the most superficial and least complex dimensions (political ones for one). This movie is way too absurd to serve as political commentary or look like that's the intention. It's just a really original, very dead-pan comedy about masculine identity struggles.
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| Dec 08, 2019 |  |
el-ahrairah | 73 62% |
| Dec 08, 2019 | howeyc | 74 44% |
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| Dec 07, 2019 |  |
orcunselvi | 55 42% |
| Dec 04, 2019 | sagikk | 50 17% |
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| Dec 03, 2019 | zomgmouse | 60 17% |
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| Dec 02, 2019 |  |
muratkrks | 70 59% |
| Dec 02, 2019 | ThirdAct | 40 25% |
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| Dec 01, 2019 | kathryn71 | 35 9% |
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| Nov 30, 2019 |  |
buttercup | 6 34% |
| Nov 30, 2019 |  |
dst7175 | 56 43% |
| Nov 29, 2019 |  |
P u l p | 63 52% |
| Nov 28, 2019 |  |
mentosibo | 70 50% |
| Nov 28, 2019 | siweq86 | 70 54% |
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| Nov 26, 2019 |  |
lumen | 6 45% |
| Nov 23, 2019 |  |
Mehmet Mert | 58 22% |
| Nov 23, 2019 |  |
clayj41 | 67 43% |
| Nov 23, 2019 |  |
ZombieBuffet | 65 66% |
| Nov 23, 2019 |  |
Seethruskin | 5 80% |
| Nov 23, 2019 | tr0nllam | 70 58% |
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| Nov 22, 2019 |  |
mert2707 | 63 48% |
| Nov 21, 2019 |  |
periboku | 80 71% |
| Nov 19, 2019 |  |
jakartan | 61 32% |
| Nov 18, 2019 |  |
cankutozturk | 75 49% |
| Nov 17, 2019 | flipperrbm | 4 36% |
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| Nov 17, 2019 | Tigertemprr | 80 83% |
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Displaying 1 to 250 of 394 total ratings: Prev | Next
| Average Percentile 48.18% from 395 Ratings |  |
