'The Art of Self Defense' by Riley Stearns Review: Unique, dark, and quite an enjoyable experience

Chances are, you haven't heard of Riley Stearns. His debut being the 2014 film FAULTS, which received quite an impressive set of reviews, but unfortunately didn't place him more into the public eye. It's safe to say he's a relatively small filmmaker, but one that clearly has the talent to explore different concepts and themes that you wouldn't typically find elsewhere.

With THE ART OF SELF DEFENSE being his latest and second feature film, Stearns takes his passion for martial arts to the screen mixed alongside the theme of absurdist comedy in what reveals itself as a narrative within the crime genre, as well as frequent nods to society itself. This style pulls forward your attention as these themes entwine and explore a larger layer of depth within this world that is built both slowly, and effectively.

THE ART OF SELF DEFENSE sets itself up as a film exploring weakness. Society's seemingly oppressing nature both in and outside of the workplace. The constant references regarding dominance, who is more manly and why, reflect on our inability to think and feel without some form of unnecessary primitive thinking controlling our thoughts and actions for the sake of gaining a few points among the peers. This works excellently in building up our protagonist, a scared, lonesome man with not a whole lot of manly traits.

Our protagonist experiences a traumatic event, causing him to rethink his personality and explore the options of gaining some newfound manliness and strength. As with many reasonable thinking individuals, the first option being to take up a martial arts class.

These classes are where most of the film's absurdist comedy take place. Its leader being a seemingly hollow man with nothing but strength and honour in his blood, teaching waves of students all hoping to follow in his ranks to the seemingly inevitable black belt; those students hollowing out their own personalities and losing that individualism they had.

At a glance, THE ART OF SELF DEFENSE appears like a narrative poking fun at the concept of martial arts, a facade of self-exploration and self-improvement, however that is far from the case. It's evident that there's passion for the art of self defense itself but Stearns ensures that this passion never dives too deep and steers far from over-glorification with the introduction of its second half of narrative, which explores a hidden crime syndicate operating within the dojo.

These events simplify the world-building, with only snippets of it being revealed to the audience. Characters aren't explored with great depth, which adds to the mystery of the members within the dojo and the criminal activities that operate within it. Though, the hints are always present throughout the film. The climax of the film takes new turns and satisfies well enough that it doesn't particularly bother, THE ART OF SELF DEFENSE doesn't provide enough of anything to really have you feel too invested and ultimately disinterested in the outcome of the events. You aren't really surprised nor are you disappointed.

This is down to the style of the film itself. Its writing. The comedic approach to telling a story of a weak male attempting to become an alpha male. The exploration of this character and his desperate attempts to seem like someone far stronger feel like the actual film, with the rest of the narrative being some filler to get the ball going but also to get it to stop. It's quite refreshing given Stearns manages to play around with these various concepts at once without too much of the other. The balance gives off a nice independent feel that doesn't have you wanting more, but doesn't have you feeling like there's something missing.

THE ART OF SELF DEFENSE is a brave and successful attempt to create something that differs from today's film market, a film that feels like a hearty breakfast but still allows you to go on with the rest of your day feeling satisfied.