Animals

Available on Netflix starting October 9, 2026, "Animals" features Ben Affleck as director, co-writer, and star in an ethical-political thriller centered on the kidnapping of the son of an ambitious Los Angeles mayoral candidate. Despite a notable cast including Kerry Washington, Gillian Anderson, and Steven Yeun, the film is criticized as a trivial and predictable work that superficially tackles themes like immigration, class disparities, and moral dilemmas without ever delving deeper. Often described as an unofficial remake of Kurosawa's "High and Low," the movie is structurally intricate yet mechanical, with weak writing and staging that struggles to generate tension, disappointing expectations for a director who had previously demonstrated far greater skill.