Caught Stealing

New York, 1998. The two World Trade Center towers still proudly dominate the skyline, the city is firmly ruled by Rudy Giuliani, and Darren Aronofsky (The Whale, 13th AFF) has just made his film debut and still has a chance to save himself from making mother!. Hank Thompson (Austin Butler) – a bartender from the Lower East Side, boyfriend of Yvonne (Zoë Kravitz), and a devoted fan of the San Francisco Giants, who are doing rather well in the current baseball season – also has pleasant prospects for the future. When he agrees to look after a friendly neighbor’s cat, he does not suspect how far-reaching the consequences of this small gesture will be. As a result of a series of unfortunate events, Russian thugs, corrupt policemen, and Hasidic mobsters ruling the neighborhood will all unceremoniously enter the protagonist’s life. When confronted with a series of successive threats and absurd coincidences straight out of the bloodiest Coen brothers’ films, Thompson is forced to take a deep look inside himself and come to terms with his deeply hidden traumas. Will Hank – unlike most of Aronofsky’s protagonists – be able to challenge the fate that weighs upon him?