Crime film Caught Stealing may be one of 2025’s most surprising feature films. It is not because it is particularly innovative: these sorts of half-comedic, half-dramatic violent capers have honestly been a dime-a-dozen since the 1990s. Neither does the film mark out a filmmaker at their very best: while it remains very enjoyable, director Darren Aronofsky has made several jaw-droppingly good films in the past. The surprise really comes in how it stands apart from everything else Aronofsky has previously done, and begs the questions ‘why this film?’ and ‘why this film now‘?

Austin Butler (Elvis, Dune: Part Two) plays former baseball contender Hank Thompson, who subsists via a bar-tending job in New York’s lower east side. When his punk neighbour Russ (Matt Smith) suddenly leaves for London, Hank is left holding both Russ’ pet cat Bud and the responsibility for a massive debt being fought over by rival criminal gangs. The film also stars Zoë Kravitz as paramedic love interest Yvonne, Regina King as police detective Elise Roman, and Vincent D’Onofrio, Liev Schreiber, Benito Martínez Ocasio, Yuri Kolokolnikov, and Nikita Kukushkin as a variety of criminals, gangsters, and ne’er-do-wells.

Certainly Caught Stealing is a highly satisfying crime movie in the well-honed tradition of Elmore Leonard, early Tarantino, Guy Ritchie, and others. It follows a predictable path of unexpected twists, sudden character appearances, absurdist mayhem, gun violence, comedy, and tragedy. One can feel the influence of Aronofsky’s personal style between the margins – when the film goes dark, it seems particularly grim – but all in all it is a well-crafted genre confection and a real crowd-pleaser.

The surprise really comes from trying to figure out why Darren Aronofsky has elected to direct this film at all. On one level it does seem to return him to his roots: his debut feature π (Pi, 1998) also featured the lower east side as its core location as well as elements of Jewish New York. Mind you, the earlier film was a low-budget black-and-white arthouse thriller about the Kaballah and mathematics, and not very like Caught Stealing at all. A glance at his other films reveals such genres as epic science fiction (The Fountain, 2006), Biblically-infused domestic horror (mother!, 2017), paranoid dance horror (Black Swan, 2010), and possibly the most miserable American feature of all time (Requiem for a Dream, 2000).

One can celebrate Caught Stealing as an example of Aronofsky’s great diversity of talent, or indeed as an example of the director sitting back and just having fun for once, but ultimately – and despite its strong merits – it brings an inevitable sense of disposability. Black Swan and Requiem for a Dream seem primed to be remembered for a lifetime. Caught Stealing seems likely to have been forgotten by the end of 2026.

Austin Butler demonstrates an immense screen presence, and is hugely entertaining to watch. Griffin Dunne makes an appearance in what feels like a knowing reference to Scorsese’s After Hours (1985). Yuri Kolokolnikov and Nikita Kukushkin in particular are amusing antagonists. Rob Simonsen’s score, performed by the British post-punk outfit Idles, is propulsive and fun.

Why does this film exist? Honestly it’s best to just enjoy that it does.