Following the critical success of 2023’s Air, Ben Affleck’s next turn behind the camera is something wholly different. Animals, which Affleck directs, stars, and co-writes with Connor O. McIntyre and Billy Ray, is a politically charged kidnapping thriller set to hit Netflix in October. I’m a little surprised we haven’t heard about it debuting at TIFF or NYFF. Perhaps Telluride?
Affleck stars as Los Angeles mayoral candidate Mark Kimball, whose carefully constructed public image takes a hit when he and his wife, played by Kerry Washington, receive an ominous phone call. Their son has been kidnapped for ransom, and while they scrounge to come up with the money, it exposes parts of their lives that they’d rather be kept private.
The film also stars Gillian Anderson, Steven Yeun, Luis Gerardo Méndez, Adriana Paz, Ray Fisher, Christopher Woodley, Matt Gerald, and Jacob Estrada.
I’m a fan of Affleck on both sides of the camera. He makes the kind of adult-oriented dramas and thrillers the studio system has largely left behind. As much as I liked him as Batman, getting away from it was the best move for his career.
Netflix will give Animals a limited theatrical release, as well as streaming, on October 9th.
