Sleight (2016)

2016

Action / Crime / Drama / Sci-Fi / Thriller

IMDb Rating 5/10

Plot summary

The film starts with a voicemail recording. Science teacher Mr. Granger (Frank Clem) calls his student Bashir "Bo" Wolfe (Jacob Latimore). Bo's mother has passed, and Mr. Granger is expressing his condolences, saying Bo's mother must have been great if he was a reflection of her.One year later, Bo is performing a card trick on the streets of Los Angeles. The crowd is impressed by his skills. Bo later shows off a trick in which he levitates a ring to a girl named Holly (Seychelle Gabriel). She is in awe of the trick.Bo goes home where he lives with his little sister Tina (Storm Reid). He goes to the bathroom and tends to something on his arm. He has hooked up an electromagnetic device to his arm that allows him to perform levitation tricks on metal items, but it's left his arm looking gross and infected.On the side, Bo deals drugs for a gangster named Angelo (Dule Hill). He goes around the streets doing deliveries while their neighbor Georgi (Sasheer Zamata). At one point, he is nearly caught by the cops, but Bo manages to hide his product as the cop searches him.Bo counts his money and finds a paper with Holly's number on it. He later goes to Angelo's home to bring him the money. When Bo mentions he's going on a date the next day, Angelo lets him have some extra money. He mentions to Bo that there's a new dealer in the area selling cocaine. Angelo tells Bo to find the supplier.Bo goes to a nightclub in the area and finds a dealer in the bathroom. He approaches the guy pretending to be interested in the product, but the guy aggressively insists he's not selling anything. After he leaves, Bo takes out the dealer's phone that he swiped and calls Angelo, telling him that the new supplier's name is Maurice (Mane Andrew).The next day, Bo goes on his date with Holly. He learns that her parents are split up and she lives with her mother. Angelo calls Bo and tells him to go with them, as they have located Maurice and his buddies. Bo regretfully departs from Holly, though she is understanding..Bo joins Angelo and his guys as they find Maurice's hideout. Angelo's guys point their guns at Maurice's guys. Angelo tries to intimidate Maurice and his guys but then offers him a chance to work with him and give Angelo 30% of their cut. One of Maurice's guys tells Angelo to "fuck off" and throws poker chips in his face. Angelo laughs and then starts beating the crap out of the guy. As he and his guys leave, Angelo restates his previous offer.Bo continues to perform card tricks to earn extra cash on the side. He has Holly come over for dinner where she meets Tina and Georgi, who both love her. Angelo then comes over to Bo's house and pulls him outside to tell him that Maurice has ignored him and is continuing to do business. Bo must leave the dinner and join Angelo.The guys catch Maurice leaving a nightclub with a girl and they kidnap him. They bring him to Angelo's home where he has his guys lay out a tarp. Angelo grabs a cleaver and hands it to Bo so he can cut off Maurice's hand. Bo hesitates as Angelo urges him to do it while Maurice begs him not to do so. Bo ends up chopping off Maurice's hand as he screams in agony. Bo must step outside afterwards to go puke.Bo returns home to find Holly sleeping on the couch. He tells her she can sleep in his bed, and she doesn't mind sharing. He gives her a shirt to sleep in. When she takes her other shirt off, Bo notices bruises on her back. They eventually fall asleep together.In the morning, Holly notices the wound on Bo's arm. When she asks, Bo explains that the idea came from watching a performer put a knife through his hand with no hole or blood resulting from it. Bo learned that the performer had been putting the knife through his hand and let the scar tissue grow so that there would be no blood. He applied the same idea to his tricks so he can pull them off unnoticed.In an effort to get out of dealing and leave with Tina, Bo buys baking soda and starts using it to start cutting his own coke to sell and grab a cut for himself.Angelo invites Bo to a party at his house. He is called upstairs to Angelo's room where Angelo starts kicking and beating Bo after learning he's been trying to take cuts for himself. Angelo demands $45,000 from Bo by midnight the following Sunday, or else. Bo goes back home to tend to his wounds. Holly sees him and asks what happened. After explaining his situation to her, Holly vows to help Bo.Over the next week, Bo manages to sell a lot of product, but he's still $10,000 short. Holly gives him some money she saved up and refuses to take it back. At one point, Bo sees her with a bruise on her face. He learns that Holly's mom hits her when she's drunk. He tells her she can stay with him and Tina since she deserves better.Bo takes Tina and Holly out as he tries to secure a loan. He is unable to get it, and Tina knows something is wrong. Bo takes her and Holly to the arcade as a distraction.Bo gets a call from one of his frequent customers, a club owner named Luna (Cameron Esposito). He goes to sell her some coke in her office, but Bo notices her safe with a lot of extra money. As they walk out toward the bar, Bo swipes Luna's keys off of her. He goes to her safe and manages to open it, but one of the club workers goes up to the office. He never sees Bo, so Bo starts taking out as much money as he can. He goes to the bar with Luna and has a drink. Bo is then spotted by Maurice and his guys. They chase him in to the street, knocking him out and taking his bag.Bo wakes up in the trunk of a car. He uncuffs himself and uses his device to unlock the trunk. He escapes before Maurice and his goons can try to cut Bo up.Angelo and his guys start trashing Bo's house as he and Tina are staying at Georgi's. Angelo calls Bo and demands his money. Bo says he is close and needs more time. Angelo now wants an extra $5,000.Bo drops Tina off at school and tells her he'll pick her up later. When he goes to do so, someone tells Bo that their uncle picked Tina up. He then gets a call from Angelo, who says that they have Tina and that he wants the money immediately.Desperate, Bo goes to Mr. Granger's house. He explains his device to him, which Mr. Granger says is hazardous due to the infection. Still, he helps Bo fix it up to give it more power.Bo and Holly drive up to Angelo's house to get Tina. Bo enters and sees Angelo's goons. He pulls out one guy's gold teeth while he takes a bat out of another's hands and hits him with it a few times. Angelo then comes downstairs as Bo demands to know where Tina is. Angelo calls Bo disloyal for going around behind his back. He takes out a gun and tries to shoot Bo, but Bo has stopped the bullets. He uses the device to pull the gun out of Angelo's hand. He takes one bullet and starts to drive it into Angelo's head until Angelo tells Bo where Tina is. Bo drops the bullet and lets Angelo live. He gives him the money he actually owed him, now done with him.Bo and Holly go to the address Angelo gave him to pick up Tina. After they get her, Bo breaks down as he is overwhelmed. The girls comfort him.Sometime later, Bo, Tina, and Holly have moved to San Diego to a new house and a new life. Bo continues to perform street magic. He is also working on a new trick. Holly sees lights flashing in Bo's room as he is working on his trick. She reacts in awe, and it cuts to black before we see anything else.