Columbia Pictures

Austin Butler is on the run from gangsters in trailer for Darren Aronofsky's "Caught Stealing"

By Chris Morgan | Last updated May 21, 2025 2:51 PM ET

When one describes the films of Darren Aronofsky, adjectives one uses would probably include "bleak", "emotionally-draining" or "punishing." He's given us movies like "Requiem for a Dream", "mother!" and "The Whale." Aronofsky has reportedly been in talks to direct a new adaptation of "Cujo," a story about a rabid Saint Bernard terrorizes a mother and her child. So, what to make of the trailer for Aronofsky's upcoming film "Caught Stealing?"

Intriguing. In "Caught Stealing," rising star Austin Butler plays a former high school baseball star living an unremarkable, lo-fi life in 1990s New York until his British punk rocker neighbor gets him mixed up in a high-stakes criminal situation.

While it's certainly an R-rated film that will have plenty of violence and sexual content, it also seems to be...a dark comedy? At the very least the trailer is cut as to indicate there is plenty of dark comedy in this crime film. After all, Griffin Dunne and Carol Kane are in it!

It definitely feels like "Caught Stealing" is outside the norm of Aronofsky's oeuvre, and there will assuredly be plenty of people who plan to see the movie with Austin Butler and Zoe Kravitz in it that have no clue it's an Aronofsky film.

"Caught Stealing" hits theaters August 29th.

Chris Morgan

Chris Morgan is a Detroit-based culture writer who has somehow managed to justify getting his BA in Film Studies. He has written about sports and entertainment across various internet platforms for years and is also the author of three books about '90s television.

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