Animals

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Animals

R

Oct 2026

1h 46m

Mystery & Thriller

Crime

Drama

Action

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

29%

Tomatometer

82 Reviews

37%

Popcornmeter

500+ Ratings

When their son is kidnapped, a Los Angeles mayoral candidate and his wife find themselves drawn into a web of deception. As they scramble to raise the ransom payment, they're forced to make choices that could tear their world apart.

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Audience Says

Despite all the makings of an enticing story, including a compelling Kerry Washington, Animals’ weak writing prevents it from reaching its full potential.

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Randy Myers

San Jose Mercury News

Oct 15, 2026

2/4

Animals is indeed a curious beast, a familiar thriller that poorly cribs from the classic Kurosawa film “High and Low” and feels stuck in its larval stage.

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John Nugent

Empire Magazine

Oct 15, 2026

3/5

A mixed bag. It’s far from Affleck’s best work, but there are glimmers of his muscularity and sharpness, as both filmmaker and actor.

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Ryan Lattanzio

IndieWire

Oct 10, 2026

C-

For every piece of drone footage sweeping across LA, every shot that carves out about two feet of space between actors with no sizzle, I kept wishing for more Gillian Anderson, more Gillian Anderson, please.

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Robert W. Butler

Butler's Cinema Scene

7 hrs ago

C

The Kimballs come off as wealthy, self-obsessed assholes. Whether this was Affleck and Crew’s intention I don’t know. But “Animals” gives us few characters to root for.

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Maxance Vincent

Cosmic Circus

3 days ago

1.5/5

How the mighty have fallen...

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Michael Medved

The Michael Medved Show

4 days ago

2/4

An acclaimed filmmaker and star wasting his gifts on an often painfully plotting potboiler that only intermittently grabs your attention.

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Stephen C

@dogfood23111 6 hrs ago

This movie is rated R.

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Horror fan 4

@Horrorfan4life 1 day ago

This was really good , especially the ending. The dark secrets that are revealed isn't anything new or that shocking which is why I took 2 points off my score. I was looking for deep dark secrets from all the characters involved but not just one secret multiple secrets. Still I like the characters and performances. Tim Treakle

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Christian K

@ckacar 1 day ago

Really doesn't hold up to any sort of scrutiny of its plot or characters but at least the politician won in the end.

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Max M

@Househuntermax 1 day ago

A solid effort from Affleck. Great acting but maybe needed another action scene to be as good as something like Ransom. Still, recommend for movie night.

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Megan M

@Megan1967 1 day ago

Much better than I’ve heard… I don’t know why the reviews on this movie were so harsh. It was a decent thriller. Kerry Washington and Ben Affleck were great. The storyline was different, it wasn’t like it was same old same old. I would give it a watch.

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Aobhna B

@RT55682221 2 days ago

I actually liked it. The acting was great. It was slightly predictable at times but overall worth a watch.

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Ben Affleck

Director

Ben Affleck

Mark Kimball

Kerry Washington

Actor

Gillian Anderson

Actor

Steven Yeun

Actor

Luis Gerardo Méndez

Actor

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Synopsis

When their son is kidnapped, a Los Angeles mayoral candidate and his wife find themselves drawn into a web of deception. As they scramble to raise the ransom payment, they're forced to make choices that could tear their world apart.

Director: Ben Affleck
Producer: Brad Weston, Collin Creighton, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Dani Bernfeld, Luciana Damon
Screenwriter: Connor O. McIntyre, Billy Ray, Ben Affleck
Distributor: Netflix
Production Co: Artists Equity, Fifth Season
Rating: R
Genre: Mystery & Thriller, Crime, Drama, Action
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 9, 2026, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 9, 2026
Runtime: 1h 46m
Sound Mix: Dolby Digital

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