Ben Affleck's Animals Is a Netflix Kidnapping Thriller That Never Quite Bites
Ben Affleck directs and appears in the Netflix thriller Animals alongside Kerry Washington, Gillian Anderson and Steven Yeun. The story follows a kidnapping tied to a wealthy independent candidate's Los Angeles mayoral race. The review finds the movie overly indebted to Akira Kurosawa's High and Low and short on tension.
Animals is Ben Affleck’s sixth directorial feature and a Netflix crime thriller. Its cast includes Affleck, Kerry Washington, Gillian Anderson, Steven Yeun, Adriana Paz, Ray Fisher, Christopher Woodley, Matt Gerald, Jacob Estrada and Luis Gerardo Méndez. It runs 106 minutes and is rated R, releasing Friday, Oct. 9.
The plot centers on a kidnapping connected to a wealthy independent candidate’s Los Angeles mayoral campaign. Affleck plays Mark Kimball, a veteran of the Gulf War who has worked with the LAPD, the district attorney’s office and environmental groups. Gillian Anderson appears as fixer Dayle Burton, whose fee is $1.4 million, with a doubled charge for certain extra services.
Animals may draw audiences curious about Affleck’s direction and its high-profile cast, including Washington, Anderson and Yeun. Its mix of a mayoral race, kidnapping and class tensions could spark viewer discussion about privilege, political image-making and urban leadership. Critics may continue debating its relationship to Kurosawa’s High and Low. As a Netflix thriller, its broader social effect is likely limited, though it could influence how streaming crime dramas approach political settings.