Remaking Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 classic Japanese kidnap drama High and Low was a good idea, and last year Spike Lee did exactly that with his own homage to the master in Highest 2 Lowest, a contemporary update set in the music business in New York City and starring Denzel Washington. In both films the wealthy father finds himself in a moral quandary when it turns out kidnappers have gotten the wrong kid to hold for ransom; in the case of Lee’s film it is the chauffeur’s son. It sparks a moral conundrum asking is a life worth the same amount no matter who you are?
I quite liked what Lee did with the premise in Highest 2 Lowest, and Washington added many layers to the performance of a man caught in a real bind, especially as his business is on the decline. I am not sure anyone was asking for yet another remake, but producer, director and co-writer Ben Affleck is essentially offering one up — if not exactly openly stating that his new movie, Animals, is directly related to Kurosawa’s or Lee’s. There is no mention of either film in the press notes, and this movie involves a lot of twists, turns and story threads to make it stand on its own, but the bones of High and Low certainly appear to have been an influence.
In Animals, Affleck plays Mark Kimball, a longshot candidate for Mayor of Los Angeles whose campaign is in financial trouble just days before the election. Kimball is a progressive candidate who holds rallies in the heavily Latino voter areas speaking note-perfect Spanish, as if that is all the cred he will need to overcome the odds and come from behind. Urged by his manager Sam (Steven Yeun) to pour what money he has left into the race, he does just that, drying up his family’s funds without telling his wife, Abby (Kerry Washington).
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It is also crystal clear his marriage isn’t all that rosy these days as there is friction with his wife who is unhappy but holding it all in for the sake of the campaign, even as she is completely detached from it all. There is another clue we are given that this marriage is on the rocks as both sides are harboring secrets from each other. Still, they keep up a good face on this Halloween, helping son Denny (Christopher Woodley) decide on his costume, and even agreeing to let Hector (Jacob Estrada), the son of handyman Ramon (Luis Gerardo Mendez), join him trick or treating. Cecilia (Adrianna Paz), the Kimballs’ housekeeper and Denny’s nanny who is also Ramon’s girlfriend, chaperones the boys as they head out into the night.
So we have a failing political campaign, a rocky marriage, financial problems, what else? Well, a phone call a few hours later from a deep-voiced criminal demanding $7 million ransom for the return of Denny puts a wrinkle into everything. Both parents freak out and things get worse when Mark must admit to his wife that the funds she thought they had has just been spent on his losing campaign. Sam, a jack of all trades apparently, has a solution and brings in a fixer, stone-faced Dayle Burton (Gillian Anderson), who steps out of a limo and into their lives with the promise she can float them the money, provided they pay it back with her additional $1 million+ fee, in order to bring their boy safely home. However, the night is still young and the script (Affleck wrote with Billy Ray and Connor O’McIntyre) in this ever-evolving scenario is full of twists and turns.
After smart directorial turns with films like his Oscar-winning Argo, The Town , Air and Gone Baby Gone, this film feels as if Affleck is biting off a little too much, throwing too much at the wall to see what sticks. The action is all over the place. Is Animals trying to be a story about a marriage in crisis and the secrets husbands and wives hide? Or is it a lurid kidnapping crime thriller? Or is it a comment on the pitfalls of politics and the character of those who aim to lead? Or is it about race, class, the haves vs. the have nots? The answer is it is trying to be all of that — and more — and in the process it feels a bit like, tonally, Affleck isn’t quite sure of which path to take.
On the surface it has the kidnap plot front and center and that would be enough, but in the midst of that we are looking at a movie changing gears and watching this marriage implode even as a true life-or-death situation stares them in the face. They are constantly fighting with each other at loud decibels. The story takes on operatic melodramatic turns, even to the point of a seriously ludicrous bedroom confrontation after an uncomfortable discovery by Mark about Abby: “I just WANT my WIFE to f*ck me!” Mark exclaims at one point. “I WANT to f*ck my HUSBAND,” replies Abby. Okay, but what about the ransom and the kidnappers and the mayoral campaign, you know, all of THAT?
Netflix, which is day-and-dating this release by putting it nominally in theaters while heading straight to streaming, is asking that certain plot spoilers not be revealed, so I won’t say more. I had high hopes for this one since earlier this year I thought Netflix’s Joe Carnahan-directed thriller The Rip with Affleck, Yeun and Matt Damon was a fantastic example of genre filmmaking across the board. I did see Animals in a packed theater at its premiere and can tell you this is the kind of crowd-pleaser that plays best that way. The audience (including a lot of influencers) was literally talking back to the screen, buying into every head-spinning plot turn that appears.
For me, too much of this is just way over the top, and that includes the performances. Affleck is a really good actor but it might have helped here to dial it back a bit, a downside of directing yourself I guess. Considering he is running for L.A. mayor, not a low-profile activity, Mark’s ability to eventually go full-boat Jean Claude Van Damme without being noticed seems uh, unlikely. And why do they not get the cops involved right from the start? Ah, I ask too many questions, just go with it.
Washington, a compelling performer, also is asked to be hysterical a bit too much. I enjoyed Anderson’s clipped intimidating delivery of every line. Yeun manages to keep his cool like an interested observer who throws out useful suggestions every now and then. Paz and Mendez gallantly try to rise above the stereotyped household-help roles with which they are saddled.
Shout-out to film editors William Goldenbeg and Christopher Rouse, who clearly got marching orders to keep this thing moving like a freight train; with Affleck’s propulsive direction, they do just that. You won’t be bored, but you may be scratching your head wondering when it is going to stop to let you just breathe. Despite the far-fetched plot developments, some moments undeniably work and keep the blood pumping, others not so much. In the end Animals is a movie of highs and lows with nothing that makes much sense in between.
Producers are Brad Weston, Collin Creighton, Affleck, Matt Damon, Dani Bernfeld and Luciana Damon.
Title: Animals
Distributor: Netflix
Release date: October 9, 2026 (limited theatrical and streaming)
Director: Ben Affleck
Screenwriters: Ben Affleck, Billy Ray, Connor O’McIntyre
Cast: Ben Affleck, Kerry Washington, Gillian Anderson, Adriana Paz, Ray Fisher, Christopher Woodley, Matt Gerald, Jacob Estrada, Luis Gerardo Méndez, Steven Yeun
Rating: R
Running time: 1 hr 46 mins
