If Lionsgate’s lucrative Now You See Me franchise focuses on the more glamorous side of cinema magic, writer-director J.D. Dillard is poised to shift the spotlight onto the genre’s dark, character-driven underbelly with Sleight, the low-budget thriller that first made waves back at last year’s Sundance Film Festival.
Now, it’s teetering on the verge of release, and though a magician isn’t strictly supposed to reveal their tricks to the clueless viewer, a new trailer for Dillard’s drama has debuted online for our viewing pleasure. Described as Chronicle meets Iron Man, Sleight begins by introducing Jacob Latimore’s gifted lead character Bo, a budding street magician who finds himself mingling with the wrong crowd in downtown Los Angeles. Eager to protect his young sister Tina (Storm Reid), Bo finds his life placed under threat when a local drug dealer turns against him, threatening to kill him and everyone he cares for – including love interest Holly (Seychelle Gabriel).
Even for such a low-budget affair, Sleight looks to boast some impressive uses of CGI to demonstrate Bo’s abilities. Towards the end of the clip, our noble hero begins to test just how far his power can reach, which ought to make for a gripping showdown between Latimore’s lead and Angelo, the unruly drug kingpin.
For more info, you can consult the plot summary below:
When Bo, a handsome and gifted high school student, suddenly becomes the sole caretaker for his little sister, Tina, he foregoes college to dedicate his talents to the craft of magic. He wows audiences as a street magician but still has to make ends meet, so he cleverly uses his skills to peddle drugs for the local dealer, Angelo. However when Bo falls for Holly, an adorable teenager in need of support, he decides to get out of the drug business, causing Angelo to threaten his family. Bo must now rely on his sleight of hand and brilliant mind to save the day.
Sleight is set to magically appear in theaters on April 7 when Dulé Hill, Sasheer Zamata and Cameron Esposito will round out the movie’s ensemble.
