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Movies Like The Art of Self-Defense

If you loved The Art of Self-Defense's Comedy and Thriller storytelling, these films deliver a similar experience — carefully selected for tone, themes, and emotional depth. Each pick includes where to watch it right now.

Top Picks

No Retreat, No Surrender
6.3

No Retreat, No Surrender

1986

The mob is trying to strongarm local martial arts schools, forcing young Jason Stillwell and his family to move after his father is injured defending their dojo. With his father now rejecting violence, Jason is forced to train on his own to protect himself and his best friend from the members of a rival karate school.

Kung Pow: Enter the Fist
6.4

Kung Pow: Enter the Fist

2002

A movie within a movie, created to spoof the martial arts genre. Writer/director Steve Oedekerk uses contemporary characters and splices them into a 1970s kung-fu film, weaving the new and old together. As the main character, The Chosen One, Oedekerk sets off to avenge the deaths of his parents at the hands of kung-fu legend Master Pain. Along the way he encounters some strange characters.

Die Hart
5.9

Die Hart

2023

Kevin Hart - playing a version of himself - is on a death-defying quest to become an action star. And with a little help from John Travolta, Nathalie Emmanuel, and Josh Hartnett - he just might pull it off.

The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover
7.3

The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover

1989

When churlish mobster Albert Spica acquires an upscale French restaurant in London, he dines there nightly, effectively scaring off the clientele with his bad manners. His wife, Georgina, is especially disgusted by him, and soon begins an affair with regular guest Michael. Despite their best efforts to keep it secret, Spica learns about their trysts, and he plots a terrible revenge.

Panic
6.2

Panic

2000

Alex is going through a midlife crisis and it has become a very difficult time for him. His marriage is struggling, he's worried about his son, and his job of killing people for his family has become the most stressful part of his life. He seeks the help of a therapist and meets a woman in the waiting room that he connects with.

Desperate Living
6.4

Desperate Living

1977

After killing her husband, Peggy Gravel and her murderous maid Grizelda wind up in the crazy town of Mortville, where Queen Carlotta presides over a sleazy collection of misfits.

Code 3
7.1

Code 3

2025

A burned-out paramedic tries to survive his last 24 hours on the job while training a new recruit.

Burke & Hare
6.1

Burke & Hare

2010

Two 19th-century opportunists become serial killers so that they can maintain their profitable business supplying cadavers to an anatomist.

More Movies Like The Art of Self-Defense

The Last Supper
6.5

The Last Supper

1995

A group of idealistic but frustrated liberals succumb to the temptation of murdering right-wing pundits for their political beliefs.

Black Belt Jones
6.0

Black Belt Jones

1974

Jones is a secret agent who has gone into semi-retirement, concentrating instead on teaching the martial arts to inner city youths. The karate school is run by a kindly old coot named Pops. His gambling debts, however, bring the local thug, Pinky, down on him. To make matters worse, Pinky is then hired by some white thugs who want to get a hold of the property Pops' school occupies so they can build a shopping mall. When things get heavy, Black Belt Jones leaps into action. Only he's not alone. Pops' daughter, Sidney, shows up to lend a hand, proving herself every bit as agile and powerful a martial artist as Jones.

Bad
6.3

Bad

1977

Hazel runs a beauty salon out of her house, but makes extra money by providing ruthless women the oppurtunity to perform hit jobs. L.T. is a parasite, and contacts Hazel looking for work after he runs out of money. She is reluctant to use him for a hit, since she prefers using women, but decides to try him on a trial basis. Meanwhile, the cop she pays off wants an arrest to make it look like he's doing his job, but Hazel doesn't want to sacrifice any of her "associates". The sleazy side of life is explored in this delightfully dark and deadpan film.

Hostile Takeover
6.9

Hostile Takeover

2025

Follows Pete, a professional hitman, as he faces a group of assassins after the boss of a crime syndicate suspects disloyalty due to his attendance at Workaholics Anonymous meetings.

God Bless America
7.0

God Bless America

2012

Fed up with the cruelty and stupidity of American culture, an unlikely duo goes on a killing spree, killing reality TV stars, bigots and others they find repugnant.

Suburbicon
5.9

Suburbicon

2017

In the quiet family town of Suburbicon during the 1950s, the best and worst of humanity is hilariously reflected through the deeds of seemingly ordinary people. When a home invasion turns deadly, a picture-perfect family turns to blackmail, revenge and murder.

Bloodsport
7.0

Bloodsport

1988

An American Army Major goes AWOL to Hong Kong for an outlawed martial arts contest called the Kumite.

Adulthood
6.0

Adulthood

2025

The lives of two siblings are completely upended when they discover a dead body, long buried in their parent’s basement, sending them down a rabbit hole of crime and murder.

Life After Fighting
7.3

Life After Fighting

2024

Retired martial arts world champion Alex Faulkner has settled into a simple life, when the disappearance of two of his students leads to an unthinkable discovery close to home. Just when all hope of finding the children is lost, he locates the imprisoned girls and unsurfaces an international child trafficking operation, which draws him back into the fight of his life against those behind it.

Society
6.7

Society

1989

Bill Whitney is worried that he is different to his sister and parents. They mix with other upper-class people while Bill is more down to earth. Even his girlfriend seems a bit odd. All is revealed when Bill returns home to find a party in full swing.

Kinds of Kindness
6.5

Kinds of Kindness

2024

A triptych fable following a man without choice who tries to take control of his own life; a policeman who is alarmed that his wife who was missing-at-sea has returned and seems a different person; and a woman determined to find a specific someone with a special ability, who is destined to become a prodigious spiritual leader.

Legally Blonde
6.8

Legally Blonde

2001

Fashionable sorority queen Elle Woods has it all, but, she wants nothing more than to be Mrs. Warner Huntington III. But he dumps her before heading to Harvard Law School. Elle rallies all of her resources and gets into Harvard, determined to win him back. While there, she figures out that there is more to herself than just good looks.

Why These Movies Are Similar

These recommendations share core qualities with The Art of Self-Defense (2019): Comedy and Thriller themes, similar narrative structure, and comparable emotional depth. NoBadPicks uses a combination of TMDB collaborative filtering, genre matching, and AI analysis to surface films most likely to resonate with fans of The Art of Self-Defense.

See full details for The Art of Self-Defense (2019)

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