From King to Crime: Austin Butler's Dark Turn in 'Caught Stealing'

Olivia Bennett, 5/22/2025 Darlings, Austin Butler trades Elvis's rhinestones for razor's edge in Aronofsky's "Caught Stealing," a deliciously dark thriller where cat-sitting goes catastrophically wrong. With a cast dripping A-list talent and enough grit to fill a New York pothole, this promises to be the year's most fashionably feral chase through the concrete jungle.

Darren Aronofsky's latest psychological mind-bend throws Butler into the gritty embrace of 1990s New York City. The premise? A washed-up baseball prodigy agrees to watch a cat. Simple enough, right? Oh, honey — if only.

The casting reads like someone's fever dream of a Hollywood poker night. Matt Smith (fresh from breathing fire in "House of the Dragon") shows up looking deliciously dangerous, while Zoë Kravitz brings her signature electric presence as Butler's girlfriend. Then there's the powerhouse trifecta of Regina King, Liev Schreiber, and Vincent D'Onofrio — because apparently, Aronofsky decided to spoil us all rotten. And let's not forget Bad Bunny, who's clearly determined to collect movie credits like they're Pokemon cards.

The whole affair started brewing during that wild 2022-23 awards season — you remember, when Butler was still speaking in that Elvis drawl that wouldn't quit (and honestly, we kind of miss it). Between champagne flutes and acceptance speeches, he and Aronofsky struck up the kind of conversation that ends in movie deals. Butler later spilled to Vanity Fair that he'd first encountered Aronofsky's work through "Requiem for a Dream" at age twelve, which... well, that explains a few things about his intensity, doesn't it?

Based on Charlie Huston's novel, this marks Aronofsky's sharp turn from the intimate devastation of "The Whale" back to the frenetic energy that made him famous. Though presumably with fewer tutus than "Black Swan" — but then again, with Aronofsky, who can really say?

For Butler, it's another deliciously risky choice in a career that's starting to look like a masterclass in avoiding the obvious. After channeling Elvis, surviving the spice melange of "Dune: Part Two," and now this — plus that mysterious Ari Aster project "Eddington" lurking on the horizon — he's clearly not here to play it safe.

The trailer promises the kind of edge-of-your-seat tension that'll have audiences forgetting to touch their popcorn. Between the neon-lit chase sequences and Butler's increasingly panicked expressions, it's clear we're in for something special. And somewhere in all this chaos, there's still a cat that needs looking after. (Here's hoping it makes it to the credits, darlings.)

"Caught Stealing" looks set to be that rare creature — a thriller that remembers style and substance aren't mutually exclusive. In Aronofsky's hands, even cat-sitting becomes an descent into madness. And really, isn't that just perfect for 2025's increasingly unhinged cinematic landscape?

Well, darlings, Hollywood's golden boy Austin Butler is trading rhinestones for brass knuckles. The first trailer for "Caught Stealing" dropped yesterday, and it's giving us everything we never knew we needed — think less "Viva Las Vegas" and more "Mean Streets" with a dash of millennial anxiety thrown in for good measure.Darren Aronofsky's latest psychological mind-bend throws Butler into the gritty embrace of 1990s New York City. The premise? A washed-up baseball prodigy agrees to watch a cat. Simple enough, right? Oh, honey — if only.The casting reads like someone's fever dream of a Hollywood poker night. Matt Smith (fresh from breathing fire in "House of the Dragon") shows up looking deliciously dangerous, while Zoë Kravitz brings her signature electric presence as Butler's girlfriend. Then there's the powerhouse trifecta of Regina King, Liev Schreiber, and Vincent D'Onofrio — because apparently, Aronofsky decided to spoil us all rotten. And let's not forget Bad Bunny, who's clearly determined to collect movie credits like they're Pokemon cards.The whole affair started brewing during that wild 2022-23 awards season — you remember, when Butler was still speaking in that Elvis drawl that wouldn't quit (and honestly, we kind of miss it). Between champagne flutes and acceptance speeches, he and Aronofsky struck up the kind of conversation that ends in movie deals. Butler later spilled to Vanity Fair that he'd first encountered Aronofsky's work through "Requiem for a Dream" at age twelve, which... well, that explains a few things about his intensity, doesn't it?Based on Charlie Huston's novel, this marks Aronofsky's sharp turn from the intimate devastation of "The Whale" back to the frenetic energy that made him famous. Though presumably with fewer tutus than "Black Swan" — but then again, with Aronofsky, who can really say?For Butler, it's another deliciously risky choice in a career that's starting to look like a masterclass in avoiding the obvious. After channeling Elvis, surviving the spice melange of "Dune: Part Two," and now this — plus that mysterious Ari Aster project "Eddington" lurking on the horizon — he's clearly not here to play it safe.The trailer promises the kind of edge-of-your-seat tension that'll have audiences forgetting to touch their popcorn. Between the neon-lit chase sequences and Butler's increasingly panicked expressions, it's clear we're in for something special. And somewhere in all this chaos, there's still a cat that needs looking after. (Here's hoping it makes it to the credits, darlings.)"Caught Stealing" looks set to be that rare creature — a thriller that remembers style and substance aren't mutually exclusive. In Aronofsky's hands, even cat-sitting becomes an descent into madness. And really, isn't that just perfect for 2025's increasingly unhinged cinematic landscape?