“If you run away from what you’re afraid of, then it owns you.” – Yvonne

Released on Aug. 29, “Caught Stealing” is a crime/comedy movie starring Austin Butler, Zoe Kravitz, Matt Smith, Bad Bunny and Nikita Kukushkin. The movie follows Hank Thompson, played by Butler, who is asked to watch his neighbor’s cat, but doesn’t realize what he has gotten himself into.

Set in the lower east side of New York in 1998, the movie begins with Hank agreeing to watch his neighbor’s cat. After a couple days, two men start knocking on his neighbor’s door, and as Hank deescalates the situation, he gets beaten so badly he has to get a kidney removed. The gangs compete against each other to find a key that his neighbor has hidden. That key will lead to a locker filled with cash. Hank finds the key in the cat box, and realizes he can rebel against them and keep the key to himself. But then, the gang finds out and threatens him and his loved ones including his mom and his girlfriend, Yvonne.

Despite all the deaths, Hank stays with his neighbor’s cat, holding on for dear life. We believe it’s a symbolism for his hope in life. It shows that even though he was a babysitter for the cat for a few days, people and pets can grow onto you. That time doesn’t necessarily mean anything.

Throughout the movie it’s plot twist after plot twist to get that key. Twists and turns, and deaths, that will leave you crying. Suspense of what will happen, afraid to look at the screen. You will want to kick your seat and wish you were there to do the exact opposite.

This movie has lots of symbols and tiny details that will come back. One of which was when Hank and Yvonne are walking under a crosswalk sign during an argument. Hank, under the influence, walks away from Yvonne while the sign above tells her, “Don’t Walk,” yet Yvonne still walks following Hank, eventually leading to tragic events involving Yvonne.

The biggest foreshadowing is Yvonne’s lighter that looks like a tiny gun. She’s seen using it multiple times in the beginning. But then, in the last 20 minutes of the movie, Hanks sees that gun and realizes something he didn’t have the answer for.

The whole movie was very cinematic and shot very well. The action scenes make you feel like you are a part of the chase. Especially when he was being chased in Chinatown, and went into a grocery store, knocking everything down.

Caught stealing is now playing in theatres, and will likely be in streaming on Amazon Video, AppleTV+ and Netflix.

Here’s our final rating, broken down into categories:

Characters: 10/10

Plot: 9/10

Suspense: 10/10

Overall, we would rate this movie a 9/10. Recently, there haven’t been a lot of new interesting movies out, but this one was thrilling and suspenseful. The casting was perfect, there were many diverse roles, all playing a different part. Like any other movie, the beginning did take a bit to go off, but was played super fast.

*Editor’s note: Faye Zayed and Nardose Solomon are student writers. All views expressed in the commentary are her own and are independent of the district, Rouse High School and the publication.