Sony Pictures Classics has unveiled the trailer for The Only Living Pickpocket in New York, a character-driven crime thriller starring John Turturro as a veteran thief whose old-fashioned skills are rapidly becoming obsolete.
Turturro plays Harry Lehman, an ageing pickpocket who still works the streets and subway cars of New York City in much the same way he has for decades.
The problem is that New York has changed.
Wallets once filled with cash now contain credit cards that can be cancelled within seconds, smartphones have transformed everyday life and Harry increasingly finds himself practising an analogue profession in a digital world.
His criminal income is also becoming more important. Away from the streets, Harry cares for his disabled wife Rosie, leaving him under growing financial pressure as the returns from his increasingly outdated trade continue to shrink.
Then he steals from the wrong person.
After unknowingly taking a valuable USB drive and passing it on, Harry discovers that the item belongs to people considerably more dangerous than his usual targets.
What begins as another routine theft suddenly becomes a race across New York as Harry attempts to recover the stolen drive and return it before a vengeful crime family catches up with him.
The trailer turns that simple setup into a distinctly old-school New York crime story, following Harry through subway stations, pawnshops, neighbourhood streets and encounters with people from both his professional and personal past.
John Turturro leads an exceptional ensemble that includes Giancarlo Esposito, Tatiana Maslany, Steve Buscemi, Will Price, Victoria Moroles and Jamie Lee Curtis.
Maslany plays Kelly, Harry’s estranged daughter, bringing a more personal dimension to a story that initially appears to revolve around a criminal mistake. Harry may be desperately trying to survive the consequences of the theft, but the journey also forces him to confront relationships damaged by the life he has chosen.
Steve Buscemi appears as Ben, an old friend and pawnbroker connected to Harry’s criminal routine, while Giancarlo Esposito plays Detective Allan Warren.
Written and directed by Noah Segan, The Only Living Pickpocket in New York marks Segan’s feature directorial debut after years of acting in films including Knives Out, Looper and Glass Onion.
The film was produced by MRC and T-Street, with Knives Out filmmaker Rian Johnson and Ram Bergman among its producers.
It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2026 before screening internationally at the Berlin International Film Festival, where its combination of crime thriller, character study and love letter to New York continued its festival run.
At the centre of the story is a man discovering that both his city and his profession may have moved on without him. Harry understands how to disappear into a crowd and remove a wallet without anyone noticing — but none of those skills necessarily prepare him for a world built around smartphones, digital money and people he can no longer outrun.
Sony Pictures Classics will release The Only Living Pickpocket in New York in New York and Los Angeles on October 23, 2026, followed by a nationwide US release on October 30, 2026.
Watch the trailer below.
