Ben Affleck Fails to Deliver in the Disappointing Political Thriller Animals

Ben Affleck is a good director. In fact, he is good enough that expectations for him are much higher than what he delivers in Animals, the new film he directed and stars in. Affleck already proved with Argo that he knows how to build suspense and direct effectively, which makes it hard to understand how, with a story full of potential and an impressive cast, he managed to produce such a mediocre film. It is not a terrible movie, but it simply fails to engage.

Affleck plays Mark Kimball, a wealthy lawyer running for mayor of Los Angeles. When his son is kidnapped and the kidnappers demand millions of dollars, he is forced to find a way to get the money, especially at a time when his financial situation is far from stellar. What begins as a fairly standard kidnapping story takes a turn that puts Mark before an interesting moral dilemma: how much is he really willing to sacrifice, and what happens when the price he is asked to pay becomes too personal? It is not a bad question to base a movie on, especially with a central figure trying to sell himself and his values to the public.

Predictable Plot and Lack of Tension

The problem is that almost from the moment this dilemma is introduced, it is pretty clear where the story is heading. Animals is so busy trying to show us how hypocritical its protagonist is that it forgets to let us discover it for ourselves. The characters are not complex enough, their motives are too transparent, and even when the script tries to surprise us with another twist, it is hard to shake the feeling that we have seen this movie before—sometimes more than once.

"Animals feels more like a mediocre television movie, the kind you might stumble upon while scrolling through a streaming catalog and forget by the next day."

Another issue is that the film is not really suspenseful. For quite a few minutes, the movie simply stands still, featuring conversations that drag on too long, characters over-explaining themselves, and implausible developments. The cinematic execution itself is quite anaemic. It is hard to believe this is the same director who managed to turn Argo into such a gripping thriller, even when its ending was known in advance.

AI Usage and Standout Performances

Affleck also confirmed that artificial intelligence tools were used during the production, primarily for lighting adjustments and image processing. It is hard to gauge how much the technology affected the final result, but the artificial slickness is certainly felt on screen. Animals looks overly polished, synthetic, and devoid of genuine character.

At least the cast does a respectable job, even if none of them truly manage to rise above the material they were given. The only one who genuinely stands out is Gillian Anderson, who plays Dale, a high-stakes financier who enters the picture when Mark tries to raise the required ransom money.

Ultimately, Animals is a film that hardly justifies its existence. Affleck attempts to craft a political thriller with something to say about morality, class, and the gap between public image and reality. These are interesting themes, but there is nothing here we haven't seen or heard before—and above all, there is no good cinema.