Director: Darren Aronofsky
Cast: Austin Butler, Zoë Kravitz, Regina King, Matt Smith, Liev Schreiber
Caught Stealing is a 2025 American crime-comedy-thriller directed by Darren Aronofsky, starring Austin Butler as a down-on-his-luck former baseball player who gets dragged into the violent criminal underworld of 1990s New York City — all because of a cat.
What is Caught Stealing about?
Hank Thompson was a promising baseball career away from a different life, but a shoulder injury and bad choices left him tending bar in a crumbling Manhattan apartment. When a neighbor asks him to watch her cat for a weekend, he agrees without a second thought. That single act of goodwill triggers a chain of catastrophic events as multiple factions of New York's underground — gangsters, corrupt figures, and street-level operators — all converge on Hank, each convinced he is holding something they desperately want. With no allies he can trust and enemies closing in from every direction, Hank must improvise his way through a city that has no mercy for the unprepared.
Cast & crew
Austin Butler, best known for his lead role in Baz Luhrmann's Elvis, anchors the film as the battered, reluctant Hank. Zoë Kravitz and Regina King bring sharp energy to pivotal supporting roles, while a commanding ensemble — including Liev Schreiber, Vincent D'Onofrio, Matt Smith, and Griffin Dunne — fills out the criminal ecosystem of 1990s New York with memorable presence.
Context & significance
For Persian-speaking viewers in the diaspora, Caught Stealing offers exactly the kind of kinetic, dialogue-driven American crime film that has long been popular in Iranian households — in the tradition of fast-moving New York crime thrillers where an ordinary person is thrown into extraordinary danger. The 1990s New York setting gives the film a gritty, atmospheric feel that recalls classic genre entries. Darren Aronofsky, the director behind Requiem for a Dream and Black Swan, brings a visually bold sensibility to what is, at its core, a wickedly funny and escalating survival story. The film is available with a full Persian dub as well as Persian subtitles, making it fully accessible for viewers across the family.
Where & how to watch
Caught Stealing is available on K-Time with Persian dub and Persian subtitles. Watch on your browser, TV, or phone — no VPN needed, no geo-blocking, and no extra download required. Start or cancel anytime.