Today Bleecker Street shares the first trailer for director Riley Stearns' new dark comedy, The Art of Self-Defense. Starring Jesse Eisenberg, the film is set in the world of karate as Eisenberg's character attempts to learn martial arts.

In The Art of Self-Defense Eisenberg portrays Casey, a meek-mannered man who signs up for karate lessons after being attacked at random on the street. Under the tutelage of a charismatic yet mysterious Sensei played by Alessandro Nivola, Casey begins to transform himself into what he once was afraid of. The deeper he immerses himself into his newfound masculinity, the more leery he becomes of his new mentor and the sinister world of violence that karate has brought to him.

Imogen Poots stars alongside Eisenberg and Nivola in The Art of Self-Defense, which comes to theaters this July.