Animals

A Heavyweight Cast

• Ben Affleck as Mark Kimball
• Kerry Washington as Abigail Kimball
• Gillian Anderson as Dayle Burton
• Steven Yeun as Sam Allison
• Adriana Paz as Cecilia Trujillo
• Luis Gerardo Méndez as Ramon
• Ray Fisher as Ron Sperling

Affleck Back in the Chair

Matt Damon was originally cast as the star of the film but had to get out of it owing to The Odyssey schedules. Ben Affleck ended up donning that role, as the actor had done with every movie he's directed since his first one (including playing a bank robber in The Town, a CIA agent in Argo, and an executive at Nike in Air). Animals is his first effort behind the camera since Air. It is his sixth directorial film all told (the others being Gone Baby Gone, The Town, Argo, which won the Oscar for Best Picture, and Live by Night).

Artists Equity Again

The movie is a Artists Equity production, the studio that he and Damon started in 2022, and like The Rip before it, premieres on Netflix. Air, by the way, was Artists Equity's first effort.

A Ransom and a Deadline

The plot of the film centres around Affleck's Mark Kimball, who is a candidate for mayor in Los Angeles, and Washington's Abigail. After their son is kidnapped, Mark and Abigail only have a few hours to get the money together, having sunk all their resources into his campaign. Power can't protect you is the tagline. And that's pretty much the vibe of the film.

Familiar Hands on the Craft

Ben Affleck has co-written the film alongside Connor O. McIntyre and Billy Ray. Ray is perhaps best known as the screenwriter of high-octane thrillers, think the likes of Captain Phillips, where characters are constantly under the wheel, and dealing with secrets and/or lies. He wrote and directed Shattered Glass, about the reporter who lied in print. Animals seems right in that lane as well, with secrets and a ticking clock.

Animals has also re-teamed Affleck with a bunch of artists he's worked with previously. Harry Gregson-Williams is the film's composer, as he was with three of his other directorial efforts, Gone Baby Gone, The Town, and Live by Night. Cinematographer Robert Elswit (The Town), known for his gritty pictures shot at night, in urban settings, Nightcrawler and Michael Clayton among them, shot the movie. And editor William Goldenberg (Argo and Air among others) is joined in the editor's chair by Christopher Rouse on Animals.

The cast also includes Gillian Anderson (who's always good playing an inscrutable person, across any number of great television series), Adriana Paz, Luis Gerardo Méndez, and Kerry Washington. She herself plays a woman always in control and figuring things out in Scandal, in Olivia Pope. Animals sounds like a breath of fresh air for the actress, in a way. Animals is also a reunion of sorts with Justice League co-star Ray Fisher. Steven Yeun stars in Beef, and was in Minari.

Streaming in India

If you're in India, the movie is on Netflix, and only Netflix (meaning you'll need a sub), and that's that. There's no variance. If you want another new movie to watch on the same night as Animals, John Cena stars in Matchbox The Movie, streaming on Apple TV. (And if you think Animals sounds a little intense for a weeknight watch, the new Netflix limited series Below, which premiered on 8 October, could also be up your alley.)

Official Trailer

Who It's For

If you liked

• Other Ben Affleck-directed movies, like Argo
• Minari
• Emilia Perez
• Club de Cuervos
• Beef

Run time is 106 minutes

Age cert (USA) is R

FAQs