SLEIGHT

Sleight star Jacob Latimore may play a street-smart magician in J.D. Dillard’s impressive directorial debut, but he’s hardly a one-trick pony. The charismatic 20-year-old is a multi-talent who got his start in the music business before discovering his passion for acting. A natural-born performer, Will Smith and Forest Whitaker helped prepare him for his biggest role yet.

JD Dillard’s directorial debut, Sleight has been compared to Chronicle, Iron Man, and Dope. It’s more like a mashup of all three — a mashup that tends to have a hard time sustaining its flavor. Luckily, star Jacob Latimore adds enough charisma to the film’s fuel tank to make it entertaining enough to watch.

JD Dillard’s Sleight was one of the best films I saw at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, so it comes as no surprise that Blumhouse is staying in business with the director on his follow-up film Sweetheart, which will star Kiersey Clemons (Dope).

In order to make ends meet after his mother’s death, a young street magician turns to drug dealing in the Los Angeles party scene. When he gets into trouble with his supplier, his sister is kidnapped and he is forced to rely on both his sleight of hand and brilliant mind to save her.