First Look: Sleight

The Sci-fi Thriller Combines Crime and Magic for an Action- Packed Look at What One Gifted Man Will Do to Protect His Family.

- Deesha Philyaw

While on a steamy Los Angeles film set, the script called for actor Jacob Latimore to make objects levitate. He could hear director J.D. Dillard yelling at him to “push harder!” Magic is certainly easier to do with the help of high-tech camera illusions and fancy editing techniques, but as lead character Bo, an 18-year-old street magician, Latimore isn’t playing the kind of tricks that are only for kids.

In Sleight, an indie hit from last year’s Sundance Film Festival, Bo uses his magical talent to support himself and his younger sister, Tina, portrayed by Storm Reid (12 Years a Slave) after their mother’s death. To keep cash flowing, Bo also sells drugs to college kids for Angelo, a local dealer played by Dulé Hill (The West Wing, Psych). But when he finds himself at odds with Angelo and his sister is kidnapped, he takes his sleight-of-hand skills to a new level to save her.