Written by Laura Sands. Graphic by Alice Stockli.
“The Only Living Pickpocket in New York” is somewhat misnamed and misclassified; the movie gives a more moving story than it lets on. This movie premiered on October 23, marketed as a crime thriller, but as a SCAD Film Fest viewer, I felt more connected to the heart, emotion, and people of the story: telltale signs of a drama. On top of that, he was not “the only” pickpocket in New York, and we saw him band together with a crew of peers- the peers that made me love the story.
In a timeless but modern New York backdrop, Harry makes his living pickpocketing and selling to pawn shops. The movie sets up this theme of old vs. new right away, when Harry steals new watches, phones, and more, and cannot sell them for the price he used to in the past. He then goes home to his wife, who is mute and catatonic, where he lovingly cares for her, reads to her, and dances for her. Harry is using most of his money to treat her to good healthcare, to tip her caregiver, his next- door neighbor who listens for her struggling when he’s away, and to even buy her new clothes. When he goes out to work one night, he steals a young man’s wallet and duffel bag, where he finds a gun and a USB chip hidden in a credit card. As usual, Harry goes to sell these things, but when he returns home, he finds his local pawn shop ransacked, and three young men in his house. The leader, Dylan, says you can’t steal from a family like his and get away with it. He tells Harry that if he gets back to the Bronx apartment by 4:00, he will at least save his wife.
This leads Harry on the most stressful day of his life where he works with his connections around the city to try to retrieve Dylan’s possessions in time. Yes, this may sound like a crime thriller, but as I was led into Harry’s life, I fell in love with his character and the tenderness he showed his wife and his friends. This led me to think about why I was rooting so strongly for a man whose line of work was illegal, who many would consider an objectively bad person. When he was caring for his wife, Rosie, it made me think of other current media that have a bedridden family member, such as “Verity” and “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You.” In both of those stories, the characters treated the ill family member as a burden, with reluctance and harbored anger. This made Harry’s sweet actions towards Rosie that much more refreshing and connective. Everything he did in this movie was for her, to give her a better life, and to be better for her.
It dawned on me that this is why I loved Harry so much- because even though he was a pickpocket, he cared more about the people he was doing it for than the objects themselves. Even the money he “earned,” he put towards his people, tipping those he believed deserved it. The antagonists, Dylan and his family, were the opposite. Dylan only used his family to get his means, and he focused solely on his possessions. This difference in morals pitted the characters firmly against each other and made the audience root for Harry, despite his criminal background. The characters even state this when Dylan says, “You old men are all about your word,” and the pawn shop owner says, “That’s what makes it worth something.” He shows that even in this criminal world, there are morals, and they take care of the people around them.
The characters were beautifully well-built, as needed to carry the story, and technically the film was pretty strong as well. The editing, specifically the transition points, stood out to me. Harry has to hike from the Bronx to Queens and back within half a day, which is a lot of travel time. The editors cut on motion most of the time, moving Harry through the city brilliantly fast. Composition was another strong point, utilizing short siding to create tension in the frame when Harry was looking for people to pickpocket. Although I enjoyed the soundtrack, I do think the sound design was lacking in the film, making it feel more juvenile. At times, all of the sound and the Walla (an effect that imitates a murmur) felt too centered and overall meshed poorly. It must be acknowledged that this fault may be the fault of the theater sound system and not the actual film.
I went into my first screening of 2026 Film Fest, expecting to see almost a documentary about the struggles of pickpocketing in a digital age, but I left on the verge of tears, connecting with real human feelings in a world centered around the old and the new. “The Only Living Pickpocket in New York” is a touching, hauntingly human film that picks apart not only what it means to be old and what it means to be modern, but also what it truly means to value people over objects.
