YNOT at the Movies

What begins with a simple favor—watching a neighbor's cat—quickly explodes into one of the year's most gripping thrillers. Director Darren Aronofsky's "Caught Stealing" (USA 2025 | 107 min.) drags audiences into the neon-lit chaos of 1990s New York, where nothing is as it seems and danger lurks in every alleyway.

Hank Thompson (Austin Butler), a former high-school baseball star once destined for the San Francisco Giants, is now reduced to bartending and drinking his days away. Still loyal to his team, still calling his mom faithfully, Hank masks his unfulfilled potential behind a tough exterior, while the memory of the accident that shattered his future continues to haunt him.

Hank is in love with his girlfriend Yvonne (Zoë Kravitz), who sees a spark of possibility in him, even as he numbs himself with alcohol and struggles to imagine a way forward. But after his punk-rock neighbor Russ (Matt Smith) leaves town and asks him to take care of his cat, his fragile routine unravels and he is pulled into a criminal underworld. Soon he's hunted by a group of criminals, including the brutal Russian gangsters Pavel (Nikita Kukushkin) and Aleksei (Yuri Kolokolnikov), alongside with the Puerto Rican hustler Colorado (Bad Bunny), and the chilling yet darkly comic Orthodox brothers Shmully (Vincent D'Onofrio) and Lipa (Liev Schreiber). Of course, he is also under investigation by Detective Roman (Regina King). Hank doesn't know what they want or why he is targeted, yet he has to run for his life.

Austin Butler gives a riveting performance, capturing both Hank's broken spirit and his desperate determination to fight back when cornered. His physicality is staggering, and he performs every stunt himself. He smartly channels Hank's athletic past into the way he runs, fights, and scrambles for survival, lending a grounded believability to the chaos. Yet it's the emotional depth he brings that makes Hank so compelling.

Director Darren Aronofsky, long known for his psychological intensity, proves just as masterful in the realm of pulse-pounding suspense. He directs with precision and playfulness, crafting a ride full of shocking twists that keep audiences constantly off balance. The city itself—East Village dive bars, Brighton Beach backstreets, and Coney Island's desolate corners—becomes a living, breathing character, captured with his gritty, electrifying eye.

With its blend of relentless action, bursts of grim humor, and a hero you can't help but root for, "Caught Stealing" is a masterfully crafted thriller that jolts, surprises, and entertains at every turn.

"Caught Stealing" opens in theaters on Friday, August 29, 2025.