---
title: "Caught Stealing"
year: 2025
kind: "film"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/caught-stealing"
fi1m_id: "caught-stealing"
imdb_id: "tt1493274"
tmdb_id: 1245993
wikidata_id: "Q130248726"
fi1m_score: 68
critics_score: 69
critics_reviews: 13
published: "2026-09-09"
updated: "2026-09-18T08:37:49.570650+00:00"
region: "LT"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Caught Stealing (2025)

Directed by Darren Aronofsky · 1h 47m · LT N-16 · Crime, Thriller, Comedy

## Identity

Caught Stealing

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/caught-stealing
- **Type:** Film
- **Fi1m ID:** caught-stealing
- **IMDb ID:** tt1493274
- **TMDB ID:** 1245993
- **Wikidata ID:** Q130248726
- **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1493274/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/1245993, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q130248726

**Fi1m score: 68** · Critics 69 from 13 reviews

*In a sentence:* The cat is the only character with a plan, and it is not sharing

> Aronofsky’s lightest film in years is a fast, dirty, frequently funny chase round a 1998 New York that looks lived in rather than dressed. Austin Butler makes a likeable punchbag. It is good company for 107 minutes and gone by morning.

## Synopsis

New York, 1998. Hank Thompson (Austin Butler) tends bar on the Lower East Side, drinks more than he should, and keeps a few unopened letters from home. His neighbour Russ (Matt Smith), a punk with a mohawk and a plane to catch, asks him to look after his cat for a few days. Within a day two Russians are at the door, then two Hasidic brothers (Liev Schreiber and Vincent D’Onofrio), then a police detective (Regina King) who does not believe a word he says. Zoë Kravitz is Yvonne, the woman he is seeing and the only person on his side. Darren Aronofsky directs Charlie Huston’s adaptation of his own novel.

## Review

Darren Aronofsky has made a film in which nobody is trying to reach God, become a swan or eat themselves to death. *Caught Stealing*, adapted by Charlie Huston from his own novel, is a wrong-man crime comedy: a bartender agrees to feed a cat, and by the end of the week half the criminals in lower Manhattan want a word. It is brisk, it is bloody, and it is the first Aronofsky film we can remember where the point seems to be a good night out. Mostly it gives you one.

Austin Butler plays Hank Thompson as a man who has stopped expecting much and is still surprised when things get worse. It is a passive part by design, the plot happens to him rather than through him, and Butler carries it by being funny in the gaps: the pause before he opens a door, the way he keeps apologising to people who are hitting him. Matt Smith’s Russ, all mohawk and borrowed swagger, sets the trouble going and then leaves Hank holding the cat. Liev Schreiber and Vincent D’Onofrio, as the brothers Lipa and Shmully, are the film’s best invention, two large men who discuss kosher dietary law with the same care they bring to breaking fingers. Regina King’s Detective Roman is the one adult in the film, and King plays her tired rather than tough.

Zoë Kravitz has less to do than she deserves and does it well. Her scenes with Butler are loose and warm, two people who like each other and know the timing is bad, and they give the film a reason to want Hank to survive. Nikita Kukushkin and Yuri Kolokolnikov, as the Russians Pavel and Aleksei, are given one note apiece and hit it hard. Bad Bunny turns up as Colorado and is exactly as menacing as the film needs and no more.

Matthew Libatique shoots the city at street level, in bar neon and sodium streetlight, and keeps the camera close enough to Butler’s face that every new bruise registers. Mark Friedberg’s production design is the film’s quiet achievement: the apartments are small, the walls are the colour of old smoke, the bar has a floor you would not want to touch. Nothing looks like a set. Amy Westcott puts Russ in leather and safety pins and Hank in the same two shirts for the whole film, which is correct. Andrew Weisblum cuts fast and clean, and the running time never feels padded. Rob Simonsen’s score sits under a soundtrack of loud guitars, and the film is at its best when it lets the songs do the work.

Here is what we felt. For the first half hour we laughed, freely and often, mostly at Schreiber and D’Onofrio, and we settled in for a caper. Then Hank takes a beating, early, that Aronofsky films without cutting away, and the sound of it stayed with us for the rest of the film. That is a choice, and a defensible one: the violence in this film hurts, which is more than most crime comedies manage. But there is a moment past the halfway point, which we will not describe, that took the laugh back entirely, and the film did not seem to notice it had happened. We spent the last half hour waiting to be let back in and were not.

That is the trouble, and it is a trouble of tone rather than craft. Huston’s script wants the film to be a lark and a tragedy in alternate scenes, and Aronofsky, who has never in his life made a lark, cannot quite hold both. When the film is cruel it is convincing; when it is jolly it is convincing; the joins show. A few of the wisecracks land as if they had been written for a different, sillier film, and one or two of the twists arrive because the plot needed them rather than because anyone earned them.

Against Aronofsky’s own record this is a holiday, and it is a relief to see him take one. Against the New York-after-dark films it plainly loves, it is a good imitation rather than a new thing. Most critics have enjoyed it about as much as we did, and a few have loved it; we think the affection is fair and the love is generous.

See it with company and a drink, in a cinema if you can, where the beating lands harder and the jokes land louder. It runs 107 minutes and carries a 15. Whatever else, the cat is fine.

*Fi1m score 68, published 9 September 2026.*

## What the critics say

Most critics welcome Caught Stealing as Aronofsky in a lighter, more commercial mood, and the majority find it entertaining. The praise clusters in two places: Austin Butler’s lead, which nearly every review calls charismatic or relatable, and the grimy late-1990s New York setting, with its vivid goons and lively supporting cast. Several reviews reach for Scorsese comparisons, After Hours in particular.

The reservations are about tone. A number of critics say the caper’s comedy sits awkwardly with its violence, and Time Out and Empire both name a single late, bleak turn that sours what comes before. Others find it derivative and forgettable, and a few miss the ambition of Aronofsky’s earlier work. The spread is wide. The Evening Standard dismisses it as a misfiring caper whose jokes do not land, The Observer calls it a lazy Tarantino throwback, and Vulture, alone, thinks Butler is wrong for the passive part.

## Straight answers

**Is Caught Stealing worth watching?**

*Caught Stealing* is worth an evening for anyone who wants a fast, bloody crime comedy with a likeable lead, and we scored it 68. Austin Butler is funny as the bartender everyone keeps hitting, and Liev Schreiber and Vincent D'Onofrio are the best thing in it. The tone slips past the halfway mark and never quite recovers, so expect good company rather than a film you will think about tomorrow.

**How long is Caught Stealing, and what is it rated?**

*Caught Stealing* runs 1h 47m and is rated N-16 by the LT in Lithuania. It is a crime and thriller film.

**Where can I watch Caught Stealing in Lithuania?**

*Caught Stealing* is streaming on Netflix in Lithuania, and it is also available to rent from Apple TV from €5.99. Availability is checked daily; the links above go straight to each service.

**How violent or frightening is Caught Stealing, and is it suitable for children?**

*Caught Stealing* carries a 15 in the UK and an R in the US, and it is not for children. Hank takes a beating early on that Aronofsky films without cutting away, and the violence hurts rather than bounces; there is drinking throughout and the mood turns cruel in the second half. The squeamish should know that the jokes do not soften the blows.

**How does Caught Stealing compare to After Hours?**

*Caught Stealing* is openly borrowing from [*After Hours*](https://film.one/film/after-hours), and the Scorsese film is the better and tighter of the two. Both follow an ordinary man through one long, escalating night in downtown Manhattan, but *After Hours* keeps its footing as a comedy while *Caught Stealing* wants to be a lark and a tragedy at once and cannot hold both. Watch Scorsese for the unnerving version and Aronofsky for the louder, bloodier one.

**Is Caught Stealing based on a true story or a book?**

*Caught Stealing* is based on a novel by Charlie Huston, who also wrote the screenplay; it is not a true story. The film sits in a lived-in 1998 New York of small flats and dirty bars, and the plot, a bartender left holding a cat that half the city's criminals want, comes straight from the book. You do not need to have read it to follow the film.

**What should I watch after Caught Stealing?**

After *Caught Stealing*, try [*After Hours*](https://film.one/film/after-hours) (1985, Fi1m 80): Scorsese’s one bad night in downtown Manhattan; the film this one is quoting from. Then [*Good Time*](https://film.one/film/good-time) (2017, Fi1m 82): Robert Pattinson runs through Queens for a night; nastier, faster, no jokes; and [*Inside Llewyn Davis*](https://film.one/film/inside-llewyn-davis) (2013, Fi1m 87): Another New York drifter lumbered with a cat, and considerably sadder about it.

### Reviews we read (26)

- **Radio Times**, James Mottram (5/5): The critic hails a propulsive, thrilling crime yarn with raucous energy, brilliant casting and a grimy pre-Millennium New York feel, singling out the wincingly painful yet non-gratuitous violence and Austin Butler’s compelling everyman lead. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movies/caught-stealing-review-austin-butler-matt-smith/)
- **Little White Lies**, Marshall Shaffer (4/4/4): The critic calls it a solidly entertaining 1998-set New York crime thriller with a Hitchcockian wrong-man premise, vibrant ensemble characters and bruising physical stakes, noting Aronofsky’s knack for bodily peril even in a more commercial mode. [Read](https://lwlies.com/reviews/caught-stealing)
- **The AV Club**, Jesse Hassenger (B): The critic says it is Aronofsky's funniest film even as it turns bleak, evoking a tortured take on Scorsese's urban comedy while holding together as entertainment. It singles out Butler shining amid tonal jitters and the director's light touch compared to prior work. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/caught-stealing-review)
- **Empire**, Ben Travis (70/100, inferred): The critic finds Aronofsky in lighter, more accessible mode with a gritty, propulsive crime thriller that delivers thrills amid escalating anxiety. They single out the vivid New York location shooting and Butler's sympathetic lead performance for praise while noting a late plot turn that sours the experience. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/caught-stealing/)
- **The i Paper**, Christina Newland (65/100, inferred): The critic calls the scrappy crime movie a little on the nose but credits its lively ensemble and retro energy with keeping it watchable. They single out Austin Butler's charisma and the sparky chemistry with Zoë Kravitz as the elements that hold the film together. [Read](https://inews.co.uk/culture/film/caught-stealing-review-austin-butler-charisma-holds-together-3880575)
- **Time Out**, Olly Richards (3/5): The critic finds it a solid but forgettable 90s throwback thriller with a killer cast and authentic grubbiness, though one bleak violent moment irreparably sours the caper tone. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/caught-stealing-2025)
- **Vulture** (50/100, inferred): The critic finds it an intermittently fun but frustratingly ramshackle experience where Butler is a poor fit for the passive lead role. It singles out the well-drawn Giuliani-era New York trappings and peripheral characters as the strongest elements. [Read](https://www.vulture.com/article/review-austin-butler-gets-lost-in-caught-stealing.html)
- **Evening Standard**, Nick Howells (20/100, inferred): The critic dismisses the film as a misfiring, ramshackle crime caper that fails to land its comedy or thrills despite a starry cast. They single out the pointless, unfunny wisecracking and lack of swagger as major complaints. [Read](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/caught-stealing-review-bad-bunny-darren-aronofsky-austin-butler-zoe-kravitz-b1244244.html)
- **Financial Times**, Danny Leigh: The critic enjoys the knockabout nihilism and nostalgic 1990s New York setting, praising the director's skill in balancing violence with levity, fun, and playful raunch while noting the breakneck caper tone. [Read](https://www.ft.com/content/aca93501-79d8-4146-aafd-a0c8c3b48004)
- **IndieWire**, Kate Erbland: The critic finds mixed results as Aronofsky's grim NYC crime caper fails to fully capture the energy and unpredictability of the source novel. It singles out the attempt at a wild pitch that doesn't quite connect for Austin Butler's journey. [Read](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/movies/caught-stealing-review-darren-aronofsky-austin-butler-1235147500/)
- **Los Angeles Times**, Amy Nicholson: Nicholson calls the hectic, hungover NYC caper chaotic fun and an affectionate dirty limerick to grotty 1990s New York, with vivid goons and a resourceful lead performance. She questions why Aronofsky was drawn to a story that feels like a good yarn rather than his usual ambitious fare. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2025-08-27/caught-stealing-review-darren-aronofsky-austin-butler-regina-king-zoe-kravitz)
- **Screen Daily**: The critic describes an uneven but admirable bid at a friskier, more conventional genre piece that shines in its off-kilter humour and quirky tone but weakens when reaching for extreme emotion or trauma. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/caught-stealing-review-austin-butler-stars-in-darren-aronofskys-uneven-new-york-crime-thriller/5208260.article)
- **Sight and Sound**: The critic welcomes Aronofsky’s shift to a brisk, entertaining crime caper packed with twists, betrayals and murders every ten minutes, praising the vivid New York setting, strong ensemble performances and the magnetic lead turn by Austin Butler. [Read](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/caught-stealing-darren-aronofsky-takes-fresh-approach-with-thrilling-crime-caper)
- **Slant Magazine**, Rocco T. Thompson: The critic praises how the boilerplate setup gets a lift from Aronofsky's style, making it looser, more unpredictable and funnier than expected while violence remains serious. It singles out the vibrant late-'90s New York milieu and Butler's star power shining through trauma. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/caught-stealing-review-austin-butler-darren-aronofsky/)
- **The Guardian**: The critic praises the film's gleeful energy, dark humour and chaotic spectacle as a very enjoyable crime flick with nasty twists and strong performances. A minor inconsistency in the protagonist's reactions to horror is noted but does not detract from the overall fun. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/aug/27/caught-stealing-review-darren-aronofsky-mother-the-whale-baseball)
- **The Hollywood Reporter**, Caryn James: The critic calls it the most overtly commercial and glossy film Aronofsky has made, an entertaining, twisty bloody caper driven by Austin Butler's magnetism and strong supporting turns. It singles out the vibrant cinematography and buoyant feel despite the violence. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/caught-stealing-review-austin-butler-darren-aronofsky-1236353041/)
- **The New Yorker**, Richard Brody: Brody praises the film as hitting a sweet spot in Aronofsky’s work, delivering lacerating comedy and high-relief artifice while mapping private lives onto the city’s public spaces. He singles out the rueful uncertainty of identification with a terminal fuckup protagonist and the ensemble’s knowing performances. [Read](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-front-row/caught-stealing-makes-new-york-a-comedic-criminal-nightmare)
- **The New York Times**, Manohla Dargis: The critic finds Aronofsky’s violent, hyperactive action adventure lively and engaging as Austin Butler’s bartender is plunged into escalating danger across a grimy 1990s Manhattan. She singles out the film’s Rube Goldberg-like plot machinery and an unexpectedly moving interlude for praise. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/28/movies/caught-stealing-review-austin-butler-darren-aronofsky.html)
- **The Observer**, Wendy Ide: The critic dismisses the film as a lazily derivative throwback to 1990s Tarantino-wannabe crime comedies, complaining of its brash swagger and appropriation of ideas from other films despite the high body count. [Read](https://observer.co.uk/culture/film/article/films-caught-stealing-little-trouble-girls-the-thursday-murder-club)
- **The Times**, Kevin Maher (★★★☆☆): The critic finds the zany ultra-violent crime caper entertaining and unashamedly derivative, singling out the charming chemistry between Austin Butler and Zoë Kravitz plus strong supporting turns, though it lacks originality. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/film/article/caught-stealing-film-review-austin-butler-zoe-kravitz-52gnq77rk)
- **Variety**, Peter Debruge: Debruge highlights the lively, high-energy New York hustle that feels like After Hours with more corpses, praising Austin Butler’s relatable, star-making turn as the laid-back bartender. He singles out the memorable ensemble and the film’s acute interest in other people. [Read](https://variety.com/2025/film/reviews/caught-stealing-review-austin-butler-1236496926/)
- **Collider**, Ross Bonaime (8/10): The film is an exciting, propulsive Scorsese-esque crime thriller comedy that lets Aronofsky have fun while staying true to his themes of addiction and obsession. Austin Butler leads a strong ensemble with charm and emotional depth in this accessible yet dark take on a man caught in 1990s New York underworld chaos. [Read](https://collider.com/caught-stealing-review-austin-butler-darren-aronofsky/)
- **Deadline**, Pete Hammond (80/100, inferred): The critic finds it a surprisingly entertaining, lightly commercial crime thriller from Aronofsky, praising Austin Butler's likable performance and the irresistible cat Bud as scene-stealers. It offers end-of-summer relief with dark and violent elements but overall fun. [Read](https://deadline.com/2025/08/caught-stealing-review-darren-aronofsky-austin-butler-crime-1236496391/)
- **NME**, Jordan Bassett (4/5): The film is a deeply entertaining retro caper with heart-pounding action, comic book-style characters and a pumping IDLES soundtrack that offers welcome escapism. Its tone is uneven, however, sometimes feeling like a pale imitation of '90s thrillers with an increasingly daft plot. [Read](https://www.nme.com/reviews/film-reviews/caught-stealing-review-darren-aronofsky-austin-butler-zoe-kravitz-3888468)
- **Paste**, Abby Olcese (7.5/10): Caught Stealing is an entertaining, low-stakes late-summer trifle and a fun, nostalgic '90s New York crime caper with strong performances from Butler, Kravitz, and Smith. It is lighter and less ambitious than typical Aronofsky fare but still delivers surprises and rewatch value, though it lacks deeper thematic weight. [Read](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/caught-stealing/caught-stealing-review-darren-aronofsky-austin-butler-matt-smith-crime-plot)
- **The Wrap** (70/100, inferred): The critic notes it's a tonal shift for Aronofsky into a pulpy, humorous crime story that's entertaining but not profound, praising the fun tone and Butler's character while acknowledging it's just a bunch of stuff that happened. [Read](https://www.thewrap.com/caught-stealing-review-darren-aronofsky-austin-butler/)

## Details

- **Director:** Darren Aronofsky
- **Director:** Darren Aronofsky
- **Screenplay:** Charlie Huston
- **Novel:** Charlie Huston
- **Cinematography:** Matthew Libatique
- **Editor:** Andrew Weisblum
- **Music:** Rob Simonsen
- **Production design:** Mark Friedberg
- **Costume design:** Amy Westcott
- **Producer:** Darren Aronofsky, Ari Handel, Jeremy Dawson
- **Cast:** Austin Butler as Hank Thompson; Regina King as Detective Roman; Zoë Kravitz as Yvonne; Matt Smith as Russ; Liev Schreiber as Lipa; Vincent D'Onofrio as Shmully; Griffin Dunne as Paul; Nikita Kukushkin as Pavel
- **Runtime:** 1h 47m
- **Certificate (LT):** N-16
- **Release (Lithuania):** 29 August 2025
- **Genres:** Crime, Thriller, Comedy
- **Budget:** $40 million
- **Box office:** $33 million
- **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mIvD-GN-p4

## Where to watch in Lithuania

- Netflix: streaming
- Apple TV: rent €5.99, hd
- Apple TV: buy €9.99, sd

*Checked 2026-09-10.*

Also available in: AE, AR, AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EC, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, HK, HR, HU, ID, IE, IL, IN, IT, JP, KR, LT, MX, MY, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PE, PH, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SG, SI, TH, TR, US, VN, ZA. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## If you liked this

- *After Hours* (1985), Fi1m 80: Scorsese’s one bad night in downtown Manhattan; the film this one is quoting from — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/after-hours.md)
- *Good Time* (2017), Fi1m 82: Robert Pattinson runs through Queens for a night; nastier, faster, no jokes — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/good-time.md)
- *Pusher* (1996): A Copenhagen dealer owes the wrong man; a week of watching the debt grow
- *The Friends of Eddie Coyle* (1973): Robert Mitchum as a small-time crook nobody is coming to save; quiet and cold
- *Inside Llewyn Davis* (2013), Fi1m 87: Another New York drifter lumbered with a cat, and considerably sadder about it — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/inside-llewyn-davis.md)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/caught-stealing