Genre: Crime Thriller / Suspense
Starring: Ben Affleck, Kerry Washington, Gillian Anderson, Steven Yeun, Adriana Paz, Luis Gerardo Méndez and Ray Fisher
There’s something about watching rich, powerful people make spectacularly bad decisions that makes for rather satisfying entertainment. Throw in a political campaign, a marriage that’s seen better days, a kidnapping gone wrong and a seven-million-dollar ransom, and you’ve got Animals, Netflix’s latest thriller starring Ben Affleck. And believe me, nobody is having a particularly good week.
Affleck plays Mark Kimball, a man running for mayor who, judging by the polls, might be better off running in the opposite direction. His campaign is floundering, he’s borrowed money he probably shouldn’t have, and he’s considering throwing even more cash into the political black hole without telling his wife. Because apparently, keeping enormous financial secrets is an excellent way to maintain a healthy marriage.
His wife Abigail, played by Kerry Washington, isn’t exactly sitting at home polishing the silver either. Their marriage has settled into that familiar middle-aged territory where two people still love each other, presumably, but somewhere between ambition, responsibilities and the general business of living, the spark has quietly packed its bags and left. Abigail may be having an affair, Mark has his own little collection of vices, and neither is particularly interested in winning Spouse of the Year.
Affleck plays Mark as a flawed, occasionally exasperating man, rather than some shining example of virtue. He’s ambitious, somewhat morally flexible and not above making questionable choices. In other words, rather believable as a politician.
And then, just when things couldn’t get much worse, they do.
A kidnapping attempt targeting Mark’s son goes horribly wrong, and the kidnappers end up taking Hector, the son of the family’s housekeeper, instead. Suddenly, Mark finds himself facing a rather uncomfortable moral question: would he pay seven million dollars to save a child who isn’t his own?
The kidnappers want the money before daylight, with the exchange scheduled for five the following morning. Which gives everyone precious little time to panic, argue, arrange an astronomical sum of money and possibly have a complete nervous breakdown.
Abigail insists they must save Hector, and rightly so. Mark, meanwhile, has to grapple with the fact that his political ambitions, already precarious finances and moral compass are now all headed for a spectacular collision.
Enter Gillian Anderson, playing Dayle Burton, a rather formidable underworld operator who offers to sort out the kidnapping situation for a price. And, while she’s at it, casually presents the option of having the kidnapper killed. As one does.
Anderson brings an icy, almost businesslike menace to the proceedings. She’s the sort of woman who could probably arrange a murder between a manicure and lunch, without so much as smudging her lipstick.
Meanwhile, Mark still has a mayoral campaign to run. There’s a speech to deliver to Mexican-American voters, a constituency he’s desperately trying to win over, while his personal life is rapidly resembling a house fire. Somewhere in all this, he discovers his wife’s possible infidelity, which naturally leads to the sort of marital confrontation that could perhaps have waited until after the ransom exchange.
But no. Apparently, when your life is falling apart, you might as well deal with absolutely everything at once.
What follows is a frantic race against time, with shifting loyalties, uncomfortable revelations and a few surprises along the way. Steven Yeun and the supporting cast add to the tension, while the story keeps raising that rather interesting question of just how far people are prepared to go when their own interests are at stake.
To its credit, Animals does a good job of maintaining suspense. The ticking clock, the uncertainty surrounding Hector’s fate and the increasingly tangled relationships keep you invested. There’s also a twist towards the end, which I won’t spoil, because ruining a thriller’s surprises is rather like telling someone what’s inside their birthday present before they’ve even unwrapped it.
Is it brilliant? Not quite.
With a cast featuring Affleck, Washington and Anderson, you expect something genuinely exceptional. And while the performances are largely convincing, the film doesn’t quite rise to the level of greatness its star power promises. Some developments feel a little too convenient, and the emotional complexities occasionally get elbowed aside by the need to keep the action moving.
Still, there’s plenty to enjoy. Affleck makes for an interestingly imperfect protagonist, Anderson is deliciously intimidating, and the film manages to keep you guessing without becoming completely ridiculous.
My verdict? Animals falls somewhere between okay and quite good. It’s not among Ben Affleck’s finest films, nor is it likely to become a classic of the genre. But it’s a tense, entertaining, occasionally clever thriller that delivers enough twists and moral messiness to justify your time.
And really, if nothing else, it serves as a useful reminder that running for mayor is probably stressful enough without adding a seven-million-dollar kidnapping, a troubled marriage and a professional fixer with a rather casual attitude towards homicide.
A good watch, even if it doesn’t quite bare its teeth as much as you’d hoped.
