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Animals Review Roundup: Critics Largely Pan Ben Affleck’s Netflix Kidnapping Thriller

Maitri Modi
Ben Affleck in Animals, the 2026 Netflix kidnapping thriller

Ben Affleck’s Animals, a kidnapping thriller that he directs, co-writes and stars in, arrives on Netflix on October 9, alongside a limited theatrical release. Affleck wrote the screenplay with Billy Ray and Connor O. McIntyre. The cast includes Kerry Washington, Gillian Anderson, Steven Yeun, Adriana Paz, Ray Fisher and Luis Gerardo Méndez. The film marks Affleck’s sixth directorial feature. The critical response is largely negative, with reviewers describing it as overwrought and underpowered despite its cast. A smaller group, however, found it a slick, watchable piece of pulp.

Affleck plays Mark Kimball, a wealthy Los Angeles attorney preparing to enter politics with a well-funded mayoral campaign. His wife, Abigail, is played by Washington. When the couple’s son is kidnapped, they scramble to raise the ransom as the secrets and decisions surrounding Mark’s campaign begin to surface. Deadline noted that the story also functions as another version of Akira Kurosawa’s High and Low, which Spike Lee recently reworked, although Affleck does not present Animals as a remake.

Some of the harshest reviews came from major outlets outside the trade press. Jeannette Catsoulis of The New York Times compared the film to gruel made with top-shelf ingredients and called the result “an extraordinarily flat political thriller.” The Associated Press’s Jake Coyle credited Affleck as a savvy, thoughtful filmmaker but found the film “narratively underpowered and melodramatically forced.”

Nick Schager of The Daily Beast wrote that Affleck is an accomplished director, but “you wouldn’t know it from ‘Animals.’” Vulture called the film a “catastrophe,” while Forbes was among the outlets describing it as “shockingly bad,” according to World of Reel’s tally. That tally also lists scores of 2/5 from The Guardian and The Telegraph, C- grades from IndieWire and The A.V. Club, and 1/4 from RogerEbert.com.

Deadline’s review argued that the film is stretched too thin. It questioned whether audiences needed another version of this story and said Washington is asked to play hysterical a little too often. David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter was more measured. He described the film as a thriller containing juicy elements that should be much tastier. Although he gave it a fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, he characterised it as “a movie to have on in the background while making dinner.” He also argued that the film’s central idea of the lawless beast within us has little traction.

Not every critic was unimpressed. Variety called Animals a nasty, compulsive kidnapping thriller and “a slick, pacy serving of all-star pulp,” arguing that it is most interesting when it is at its most cynical. The review suggested that going straight to Netflix was for the best, although it also said the film could hold viewers’ attention in a multiplex. Danny Leigh of the Financial Times also gave it a fresh score, praising the supporting players, including Washington and a “splendidly glacial” Anderson, for contributing to a cluster bomb of secrets and hidden agendas.

FandomWire was among the film’s strongest supporters, calling it a tightly wound, ruthless political thriller and describing Affleck’s performance as his “best performance since Gone Girl.”

The cast attracted the most consistent praise, including from critics who disliked the film overall. Rooney described the performers as highly watchable, while the Financial Times singled out Anderson’s cool presence. Deadline’s criticism of Washington focused on the material rather than her performance, and the review still described her as a compelling actor. Critics who disliked Animals largely blamed its screenplay and pacing rather than the performances.

Taken together, the reviews describe a thriller with a strong cast and a promising premise that many critics believe fails to deliver on its themes. Whether viewed as pulpy entertainment or an overwritten misfire, Animals has left the majority of critics unconvinced, although a smaller group has enjoyed the ride.

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Film Details: Animals

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