Caught Stealing has debuted with a strong Rotten Tomatoes score. The new movie, which was directed by Oscar nominee Darren Aronofsky, is set to come to domestic theaters on August 29. The screenplay, which was written by Charlie Huston, is based on his own 2004 crime novel, which is one of a series that follows the antihero Henry Thompson.

The Darren Aronofsky movie stars Austin Butler as Thompson, who finds himself swept up in a life of crime after the end of his career as a baseball player. The star-studded ensemble cast of Caught Stealing also includes Matt Smith, Zoë Kravitz, Regina King, Bad Bunny, Liev Schreiber, Tenoch Huerta, D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Vincent D’Onofrio, Griffin Dunne, and Carol Kane.

Rotten Tomatoes has now aggregated enough critics’ reviews to give Caught Stealing an official score on the Tomatometer. Although the score could fluctuate as more reviews are added, at the time of writing, it has a solid score of 82% thanks to 28 different reviews, 23 of which are positive.

Should it remain at that level once it reaches a higher level of reviews, it will most likely become Certified Fresh on the platform. The reviews that have already been tabulated include one from ScreenRant‘s own Mae Abdulbaki, who gave the movie a score of 7 out of 10. Read an excerpt from her Caught Stealing review below:

Most films can’t find the line to walk between a story’s darkness and its humor. Aronofsky manages to straddle both with ease. Huston’s script is filled with intensity and tension, sneaking in moments of light amidst the chaos and confusion of Hank’s changed circumstances, which involve a myriad of standout bad guys and Regina King’s semi-impatient Detective Roman.

What This Means For Caught Stealing

Should this Rotten Tomatoes score hold at its current level, the Austin Butler movie will officially become the best-reviewed feature directed by Darren Aronofky since his Oscar-winning 2010 classic Black Swan (85%). The director has produced a string of movies that have provoked mixed reactions in the meantime, including mother! (68%), The Whale (64%), and Noah (75%).

Additionally, Caught Stealing continues a H๏τ streak for Austin Butler, who has earned a Fresh score for every movie that he has starred in since summer 2019, when he appeared in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood (86%). This includes Dune: Part Two (92%), Elvis (77%), and The Bikeriders (80%).

Additionally, while Matt Smith is best known for television series including Doctor Who and HBO’s House of the Dragon, Caught Stealing ties with 2023’s Starve Acre to become his second highest-rated movie ever on Rotten Tomatoes, behind only His House (100%).

Our Take On The Caught Stealing Rotten Tomatoes Score

This solid Rotten Tomatoes score could help give Caught Stealing a boost during its opening weekend, during which it is facing heavy compeтιтion from other new releases, including The Roses and The Toxic Avenger, the 50th anniversary re-release of Jaws, and the holdover horror hit Weapons.

The current Box Office Theory projections for Caught Stealing show it coming in slightly below The Roses and Jaws, but the fact that it is greatly exceeding the former тιтle’s 65% Rotten Tomatoes score could be a good sign that it will have word-of-mouth growth over the course of the weekend.