Affleck Has Still Got It

Ben Affleck, the director, came in hot, absolutely crushing it with his first three films: Gone Baby Gone, The Town, and Argo (I should revisit all three), but delivering his first goose egg, Live by Night, which I feel like might have put him off of directing for a while. There was a seven year gap (where he was playing Batman) between that and the much improved Air, and after taking time to act in The Rip and The Accountant 2, he’s returning with Animals, produced by his production company, Artist Equity, which seeks to bring back the mid-budget adult dramas. It’s been very successful (The Rip is the year’s biggest Netflix movie, so far).

Animals has Affleck behind the camera and in front of it, where he appropriately plays a Los Angeles mayoral candidate. He and his wife (played by Kerry Washington) are pulled into a web of deception after their son is kidnapped, and they’re forced to make choices that could tear their world apart while trying to raise the ransom for their son.

Also, Gillian Anderson is in this, and as always, when she walks onscreen, you take notice. I’m also guessing that this is one of those Ben Affleck characters that appears to be a good guy but who probably created the mess that he’s now dealing with. Typical Affleck!

Anyway, the trailer looks intense. I am down with this.

Animals streams on Netflix on October 9th. It also stars Adriana Paz, Ray Fisher, Christopher Woodley, Matt Gerald, Jacob Estrada, with Luis Gerardo Méndez, and Steven Yeun.