It is hard to imagine that the man who made Argo, arguably one of the best political thrillers of the 21st century, helmed Animals. Unlike the 2011 Oscar-winning drama, Animals is a paint-by-numbers drama that never commits to a single risk or novel idea.
Director Ben Affleck takes on the leading role as a sleazy mayoral candidate Mark Kimball, who is trying to present the perfect life with wife Abigail (Kerry Washington). Except his marriage is far from perfect, and his mayoral campaign needs funds fast. You just know where this is going.
The Murky Politics Of Animals
Mark’s life and career change when his son and his housekeeper’s son get kidnapped. Within a few hours, he and his wife must come up with a multi-million dollar ransom payment.
While Animals gets straight to its point, it’s almost too rushed that it’s impossible to care about the family. The Kimballs are a sanitised version of a political family in America. He speaks in generic terms, never committing too much to a political stance.
In comes Steven Yeun as Mark’s campaign manager and Gillian Anderson as a mysterious, white-suited fixer. They claim they can quickly raise the money, but it raises questions about the murky background of Mark’s political career.
Over the next 106 minutes, the film follows the expected beats of this type of genre and story. Every twist and turn is totally expected, and you’ll keep waiting for the bait-and-switch. Surely Ben Affleck hasn’t made a film this generic? Prepare for disappointment.
Affleck is in familiar and comfortable waters here as a sleazy politician you can’t trust and can’t quite pinpoint exactly why. Kerry Washington is also in a thankless yet familiar role. Fans of her performance as Olivia Pope in Scandal will recognize what this film is trying to do. As brilliant as Washington is, she is relegated to the wife of a man who must face what he has done. Her career as a psychologist gets strangely ignored in favor of her husband’s machismo. Surely she has the better skills to tackle a ransom caller?
A Beige Political Drama
At no point does Animals prove why it’s anything more than a procedural TV episode extended and with a Hollywood cast. In fact, the aforementioned Scandal and The Good Wife have done this plot and done it much better.
There is a sense, throughout, that this is going to land. 90 minutes in, Animals has the potential to do a last-minute twist or shock that will certainly stop this from becoming another forgettable streaming movie. Sadly, Animals takes every predictable option in its way to its destination, never veering off route.
Animals occasionally descends into soap opera territory. Midway through a parent’s worst nightmare, they are arguing about the details of their marriage and just acting in ways totally preposterous. The tension is often deflated by characters taking bizarre, unrealistic decisions.
There is also an odd thread including groundskeeper Ramon (Luis Gerardo Méndez) and housekeeper Cecilia (Adriana Paz). Mark wants to win over the Latin vote, in a very much tell not show way, but Animals fails to commit to this. It frankly feels like an excuse for Affleck to flex his own almost fluent Spanish rather than make a point about the immigrant experience in Los Angeles.
Steven Yeun and Gillian Anderson are working on another level here, sadly both belong in another, much more interesting film. Yeun is underused as a political strategist manipulating the narrative, while Anderson chews scenery in her white suit and British accent. This film would have benefitted from leaning into their more eccentric performance, it would have at least given the film more interest. These two are acting in a much better film that Animals delivers.
A Netflix Film With An Identity Problem
Animal struggles to understand what it wants to be and what it wants to say. It wants to be a high-brow political thriller, yet midway it veers into a John Wick vigilantism action flick before trying to end on a more philosophical note. It wants to highlight political corruption and LA’s inequality, but it also wants a gunfight finale. One thing links the film through its genre clashes: it doesn’t commit to any of them.
On a high note, this is one of Netflix’s smarter and more nuanced outings. While some of their films, including Ben Affleck’s The Rip, repeat the plot multiple times in case audiences were on their phone. That could possibly be because there isn’t much plot to miss.
The film finally finds its footing in the last 10 minutes, finally letting Affleck unleash that Gone Girl persona. These closing moments hint at the greatness underneath the generic procedural drama. Somewhere in here, is a great film that makes a point about politics and fame and media coverage.
If you can’t make a film about corrupt politicians in 2026, when can you?
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