Ben Affleck's Critically-Panned Political Thriller Is a Massive Netflix Hit

Such is the state of originality in Hollywood that even director-driven movies released a year apart are remakes of the same classic. One year has passed, almost to the day, since Spike Lee debuted his acclaimed Apple TV movie, Highest 2 Lowest, a remake of Akira Kurosawa's classic thriller High and Low. This past week, Netflix debuted the thriller Animals, which wasn't marketed as another remake but was soon revealed to be one. Animals is the latest directorial effort from Ben Affleck — unfortunately, it has also turned out to be his lowest-rated film as a director, according to the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. Despite the mediocre reviews, Animals emerged as an instant hit, and is a hot contender to join a slew of mid-budget Netflix originals to pass 100 million views this year.

In fact, Netflix began its success streak with another thriller produced by and starring Affleck: The Rip. It was soon joined in the 100-million-views club by Thrash, Apex, Swapped, and War Machine. Netflix has successfully pivoted from producing mega-budget tentpoles, and is now investing in mid-budget genre movies that draw huge viewership. More recently, the streamer found success with three thrillers — The Last House, The Whisper Man, and Unabomber. Animals is well-positioned to keep the streak going, given its tremendous performance so far. The movie follows a mayoral candidate in Los Angeles whose life and career come apart when his child is kidnapped for ransom.

Here's How 'Animals' Performed on the Latest Netflix Viewership Report

+3

According to the latest edition of Netflix's weekly viewership report, which tracks the week of October 5 to October 11, Animals topped the global chart with nearly 24 million views. This reflects just three days' worth of viewership, since the movie debuted on October 9. Also featuring Kerry Washington, Gillian Anderson, Steven Yeun, Adriana Paz, and Luis Gerardo Méndez, Animals holds a 32% score on Rotten Tomatoes. This makes it Affleck's worst-rated movie as a director, below Live By Night, which holds a 34% score. His four other features — Gone Baby Gone, Argo, The Town, and Air — are all "Certified Fresh" on the aggregator.