Caught Stealing (2025): A Chaotic ’90s Crime Caper That Thrives on Style, Falters in Balance

Caught Stealing (2025)

What Works

Austin Butler Anchors the Film

Butler plays Hank, a former high school baseball phenom-turned-bartender, with enough grit and underdog energy to hold the increasingly wild plot together. His charm, especially in moments of vulnerability or forced violence, helps the audience remain invested. 

Atmospheric 1990s NYC Setting & Visuals

The film nails the grime, the neon, the sense of late-night urban anxiety. Details like answering machines, flip phones, a pre-smartphone world, and even the soundtrack lean hard into nostalgia. Cinematography and sound design contribute well to building tension as Hank is drawn deeper into criminal chaos.

Genre Switch-Ups & Dark Humor

Caught Stealing mixes crime thriller with moments of absurd black comedy—organ theft, eccentric mobsters, a cat in peril—that make it more than just another underdog-in-danger movie. There are jolts of humor in places you wouldn’t expect, which lighten the heaviness when they land well. 

Strong Supporting Cast

Zoë Kravitz, Regina King, Liev Schreiber, Vincent D’Onofrio and others bring life to secondary characters—some frightening, some bizarre, some just morally messy. Their involvement adds texture and raises the stakes beyond just Hank’s survival. 

What Doesn’t

Tonal Inconsistency & Overstretch

The film sometimes struggles to decide whether it wants to be brutal crime drama, darkly comedic pulp, or something else. Scenes shift sharply from visceral violence to almost slapstick absurdity, which undermines emotional immersion for some viewers. 

Plot Mechanics & Suspension of Disbelief

Some character choices feel more like plot devices than organic developments. For example, Hank is dragged into increasingly dangerous situations through convenient misfortunes, and his responses sometimes feel underpowered or inconsistent given what he’s been through. This weakens tension in places.

Emotional Depth Lags Behind Style

While the film looks good and moves with energy, it sometimes seems light on what makes the audience really care. Hank’s internal history (his baseball past, his regrets) is hinted at but not always developed fully. As a result, moments of danger are exciting but less gut-punching than they might have been. 

Final Verdict

Caught Stealing is an ambitious shift for Darren Aronofsky—a less oppressive tone than his more psychologically intense films, but still steeped in tension, moral ambiguity, and a slippery moral coastline. It offers a rough, stylish crime ride with strong performances and a memorable atmosphere.

It’s not perfect: the shifting tone, occasional logic gaps, and underdeveloped emotional arcs keep it from being top-tier. But if you enjoy crime-thrillers with grit, oddball characters, and that ’90s urban pulse, this one delivers more than enough thrills to justify a watch.