Sleight Teaser Trailer: A First Look At The Magic Movie That Wowed Sundance

Sleight was one of my favorite movies of this year's Sundance Film Festival, which is saying something because Sing Street and Hunt For The Wilderpeople were some of the other movies in Park City this past January. It's also in my top 10 magic movies of all time.

I've described the film as Doug Liman's Go crossed with Now You See Me, with a side of Chronicle. Smart, fun, and thrilling, JD Dillard's feature film that wowed at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival with some great high concept ideas at a micro budget, earning an acquisition by Blumhouse and WWE Studios. Watch the first Sleight teaser trailer now embedded after the jump.

Sleight follows a young street magician named Bo (The Maze Runner's Jacob Latimore) who is doing the best he can to take care of his little sister Tina (12 Years a Slave's Storm Reid) following the death of their mother. But performing magic on the streets for tourists isn't enough to pay the bills, so Bo begins peddling drugs at clubs and parties for a local drug dealer Angelo (Psych and West Wing's Dulé Hill). Making intelligent use of his sleight of hand skills, Bo can avoid trouble from the police.  When another dealer tries to take over the Los Angeles market, Bo is propelled into a world of guns and gang violence, definitely not the "selling dime bags to club-goers" job he was sold on.

The trailer shows more than I would like it to show, but I understand why. You need to see the visual wonder of the Tony Stark-like technological magic Bo produces in this adventure to sell this kind of movie.  You can read my entire review from Sundance here. The official plot synopsis for Sleight follows:

A young street magician (Jacob Latimore) is left to care for his little sister after their parents' passing and turns to illegal activities to keep a roof over their heads. When he gets in too deep, his sister is kidnapped and he is forced to use his magic and brilliant mind to save her.

Sleight will be released in theaters on April 7th, 2017.