Netflix has just added a 'dark and twisty' new thriller

Directed by an Oscar winner, the crime thriller has a great cast.

Netflix has just added Animals, a new thriller movie directed by and starring Ben Affleck (The Town, The RIP).

The Oscar-winner plays Mark Kimball, a Los Angeles Mayoral candidate whose seemingly perfect life is shattered when his son is kidnapped and held for ransom. As they scramble to raise the money needed to free their child, Mark and his wife Abigail (Kerry Washington, Wake Up Dead Man) are drawn into a web of deception.

Movie Title	Animals
Where to Watch	Netflix
Cast	Ben Affleck, Kerry Washington, Gillian Anderson
Length	108 minutes

Co-starring Gillian Anderson (The X-Files) as a mysterious fixer, the cast of Animals also includes Adriana Paz (Emilia Pérez), Luis Gerardo Méndez (Narcos: Mexico), Ray Fisher (True Detective), and Steven Yeun (Beef). Affleck co-wrote the movie with Billy Ray (Breach) and newcomer Connor O. McIntyre.

The movie has earned mixed reviews. Some critics took issue with the film's twists and compared it unfavourably to last year's similarly plotted Highest 2 Lowest, itself a remake of Akira Kurosawa's '60s classic High and Low.

Watch the trailer for Animals right here:

That said, others have praised Animals for its performances (particularly by Affleck and Anderson), its social commentary, its moral dilemmas, and its sense of tension.

You can read some of those positive write-ups below:

Publication	Quote
Awards Radar	"Animals is a dark and twisty thriller from Ben Affleck."
FandomWire	"A tightly wound, aggressive, and ruthless political crime thriller."
Flickering Myth	"Animals is an undeniably suspenseful riff on a classic with taut hostage thrills, slyly demonstrating a cynical brokenness in American politics."
IGN	"None of the choices available to the protagonists are good ones, and the many "what would you do in this scenario?" questions the film poses keep the story compelling when the kidnapping plot itself ventures into formula."
JoySauce.com	"A slick, junk food thriller with a lot on its mind about modern America, its political narratives, and its most vulnerable communities."
MundoCine	"Ben Affleck's take on High and Low is an old-school kidnapping thriller, perfect couch-and-blanket viewing for an entertaining night of streaming, with a moral dilemma that will keep the dinner-table debates going for hours."
Reel Talk with Chuck and Pam	"Derivative but effective, Ben Affleck’s Animals takes the premise from Akira Kurasowa’s 1963 thriller High and Low and puts a modern spin on it to look at the social and cultural divide in today’s America."

Animals is streaming on Netflix now.

Movie Title	Animals
Where to Watch	Netflix
Cast	Ben Affleck, Kerry Washington, Gillian Anderson
Length	108 minutes

Publication	Quote
Awards Radar	"Animals is a dark and twisty thriller from Ben Affleck."
FandomWire	"A tightly wound, aggressive, and ruthless political crime thriller."
Flickering Myth	"Animals is an undeniably suspenseful riff on a classic with taut hostage thrills, slyly demonstrating a cynical brokenness in American politics."
IGN	"None of the choices available to the protagonists are good ones, and the many "what would you do in this scenario?" questions the film poses keep the story compelling when the kidnapping plot itself ventures into formula."
JoySauce.com	"A slick, junk food thriller with a lot on its mind about modern America, its political narratives, and its most vulnerable communities."
MundoCine	"Ben Affleck's take on High and Low is an old-school kidnapping thriller, perfect couch-and-blanket viewing for an entertaining night of streaming, with a moral dilemma that will keep the dinner-table debates going for hours."
Reel Talk with Chuck and Pam	"Derivative but effective, Ben Affleck’s Animals takes the premise from Akira Kurasowa’s 1963 thriller High and Low and puts a modern spin on it to look at the social and cultural divide in today’s America."

Netflix has just added a ‘dark and twisty’ new thriller

Home movies & tv

Directed by an Oscar winner, the crime thriller has a great cast.

Watch the trailer for Animals right here:

Animals is streaming on Netflix now.

Netflix has just added a ‘dark and twisty’ new thriller

Home›movies & tv

Directed by an Oscar winner, the crime thriller has a great cast.

Watch the trailer for Animals right here:

Animals is streaming on Netflix now.

Home movies & tv