Parents' Guide to

Sleight

By Jeffrey Anderson, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 16+

Strong character-driven superpower tale has violence, drugs.

Movie R 2017 90 minutes
Sleight Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

age 18+

Based on 1 parent review

age 18+

Mixed Feelings

The main character is a realistic portrayal of a young adult struggling with negative influences and making choices. There are some positive messages mixed in with much negative influence. The audience finds themselves routing for the main character and his family. This is a highly anxiety-provoking film, as the plot increases to some very violent scenes. My family had to turn the film off after the scene in which a hand gets cut off. This is much more emotionally traumatic than the reviews state. The main character is forced to choose between cutting off someones' hand or the main drug dealer threatening to cut off his. We see the character whose hand is about to get cut off pleading to the main character and the main character over-wrought with emotion. It is extremely realistic. We felt sick watching it and did not finish the film. If you have sensitive people in your family, have caution with this unexpected scene, and overall movie. Otherwise, the concept of magic, aspiring for a better life, and the process of making choices as a young adult is portrayed well. If I had been able to make it through to the end of the film, I would have thought these concepts were brilliant and original, just too disturbing and anxiety-provoking. If this is what the filmmakers were meaning to illicit, they did a great job. beautiful visuals and thought-provoking otherwise.

This title has:

Too much violence

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (1):
Kids say (1):

Director by J.D. Dillard brings this under-the-radar drama close to genre cliches but deftly avoids them with his strong characters, fine storytelling, and vivid atmosphere. The performances in Sleight are its strong point, with Latimore creating a sympathetic, kind, and yet believable drug dealer. Gabriel never lets us doubt for a second that she and Bo could have an instant attraction, and Hill is quite scary and effective as a sophisticated drug lord.

Even the marginal characters seem to have inner lives; a next-door neighbor talks about how much she's been studying lately, and a drug lackey talks about his upcoming mix tape. The physical space feels alive and used in ways that support the story, and the magic tricks seem truly magical, not overcooked visual effects. Best of all is the way that Dillard never lets the movie's "superpower" aspect get too out of hand (there are no explosions), nor does he follow any of the obvious threads to end his story. His actual final scene is like the conclusion of a great magic trick; it elicits a "wow."

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