The Art of Self-Defense (2019)

The Art of Self-Defense (2019): written and directed by Riley Stearns; starring Jesse Eisenberg (Casey), Alessandro Nivola (Sensei), and Imogen Poots (Anna): Extremely off-beat drama-comedy in which nebbishy Jesse Eisenberg starts learning karate after being mugged, in turn falling under the spell of the weird, initially charismatic Sensei of his dojo. 

The film successfully navigates a line between satiric comedy and Taxi Driver-style revenge fantasy. Eisenberg is pitch-perfect as Casey before and after gaining confidence. 

Alessandro Nivola is also good as the Sensei. Imogen Poots does solid work as well as the best student in the dojo, one who nonetheless never gets promoted to Black Belt despite the obvious superiority of her skills. Perhaps most impressive of all is that writer-director Riley Stearns nails the ending. Highly recommended.