Ben Affleck's 'Animals' Stretched Thin: Netflix Review — SkimNews
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- Animals, a Netflix thriller directed and co-written by Ben Affleck with Billy Ray and Connor O'McIntyre, debuts October 9, 2026 in a limited theatrical run alongside streaming; it's rated R and runs 1 hour 46 minutes.
- The plot echoes Akira Kurosawa's "High and Low" (1963) and Spike Lee's recent "Highest 2 Lowest," though press materials reference neither; Affleck stars as Mark Kimball, a progressive LA mayoral candidate whose drained campaign funds complicate a $7 million kidnapping ransom for his son.
- Kerry Washington co-stars as wife Abby in a marriage the reviewer says the film depicts as constantly arguing at "loud decibels" amid the life-or-death crisis — at one point trading the line "I just WANT my WIFE to fck me!" / "I WANT to fck my HUSBAND."
- Gillian Anderson plays stone-faced fixer Dayle Burton, who fronts the ransom in exchange for an additional $1 million+ fee; Steven Yeun co-stars as Kimball's campaign manager Sam.
- The reviewer criticizes the film for trying to be a kidnapping thriller, marriage drama, political commentary, and race/class exploration all at once — calling it "a movie of highs and lows with nothing that makes much sense in between."
- Cross-coverage consensus skews negative: IndieWire calls it "Quite Literally Just Bad TV," NYT frames the angle as "The Politician's Dilemma," and Deadline reports Affleck actually campaigned for LA mayor in character with the line "Do Not Vote For Me!" — a real-world stunt the dominant review barely registers.
Why it matters: For an Oscar-winning director (Affleck took the trophy for 'Argo') with proven range across 'Air' and 'The Town,' a critical drubbing before the October 9 streaming debut dents his marquee value for theatrical-and-streaming day-and-date releases. Netflix's bet on star-driven prestige thrillers takes a hit when mainstream press (Deadline) and indie outlets (IndieWire) flag the same tonal incoherence within days of launch.
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