A darkly fun new thriller movie is available to watch now

We expect this to become a rewatchable cult classic.

Based on the novel of the same name by Charlie Huston, who also penned the script for the movie adaptation, the film is set in New York City in the late ‘90s.

Its story follows Henry ‘Hank’ Thompson (Oscar-nominee Austin Butler, Elvis), a former baseball prodigy who was forced to quit the sport after a traumatic event.

Haunted by his past, the young man now spends his nights drinking and hard-partying at the local bar where he works in an effort to forget.

One day, Hank’s British and mohawked punk neighbour, Russ (a scene-stealing Matt Smith, House of the Dragon), asks the former baseball star to mind his cat while he is out of town.

While a seemingly innocuous request, it ends up landing Hank and his paramedic girlfriend, Yvonne (a luminous Zoë Kravitz, The Batman), in a world of trouble. This is because rival Jewish and Russian mobsters soon come to Russ’ door, desperately searching for a mysterious item that the British punk hid before he left.

Also co-starring Action Bronson, Bad Bunny, Liev Schreiber, Regina King and Vincent D’Onofrio, Caught Stealing was directed by the Oscar-nominated Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan, The Wrestler).

In fact, it is the filmmaker’s follow-up to his dark, tear-jerking, Oscar-winning drama The Whale.

Indeed, Caught Stealing feels like a change of pace for Aronofsky, almost as if the director wanted to challenge himself, to see if he could make a fun, more conventionally entertaining crime thriller in the vein of Guy Ritchie. 

And indeed, Caught Stealing is wickedly entertaining and stylish. This is thanks to its cool period setting, its energetic performances, its dark comedy, its twisty mystery plot, and its hard-hitting score from punk band Idles.

That said, the filmmaker’s latest still retains his trademark darkness. It soon becomes clear that if Hank is to survive the quirky, if very deadly, gangsters on his tail, he must finally confront the demons of his past. This element gives Caught Stealing an added emotional weight, setting it apart from other similar crime thrillers.

While this darkness sometimes does gel awkwardly with the lighter and zippier tone, it’s hard to care too much when Huston’s story is so genuinely compelling.

Expect Caught Stealing to become a rewatchable cult classic.

Caught Stealing is in cinemas now.