Ben Affleck’s New Netflix Thriller Officially Arrives October 9

Coming into each year, it’s always difficult to predict which Netflix movie is going to be the most popular. This is largely because the streamer doesn’t begin marketing its movie until around two months before release, and release dates can be even trickier to predict. A perfect example of this is Ray Gunn, the highly anticipated animated movie years in the making from Brad Bird (Incredibles and Incredibles 2). Coming into the year, no one even knew Ray Gunn was going to be released this year, but Netflix is now putting it up against both Avengers: Doomsday and Dune: Part Three on December 18, so clearly the streamer has confidence in it to do well. Some of the big releases this year for Netflix include War Machine (starring Alan Ritchson) and Apex (starring Charlize Theron), and now the next big blockbuster is officially coming in just a few days.

Officially set to release this Friday, October 9, on Netflix is Animals, the new kidnapping thriller starring and directed by Ben Affleck. Affleck has not directed a movie since Air in 2023, and that was much more of a drama than a thriller, so this will be his first high-octane movie since Live By Night in 2016. Affleck also wrote the script for Animals with Billy Ray and Connor O. McIntyre, and he enlisted some all-time talent to feature alongside him in the film. This includes Ray Fisher, who co-starred with Affleck in the Justice League movie as Cyborg. Emmy winner Kerry Washington also has a key role in Animals, along with Steven Yeun and Gillian Anderson. Yeun is best known for his role as Glen in The Walking Dead, and Anderson played Dana in The X-Files.

What Is ‘Animals’ About?

Netflix’s official synopsis for Animals reads as follows: “When their son is kidnapped, a Los Angeles mayoral candidate and his wife find themselves drawn into a web of deception. As they scramble to raise the ransom payment, they're forced to make choices that could tear their world apart.” The film does not yet have a score on the aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes, but critics' opinions will begin filing in later this week when the embargo is lifted. Fans can also expect a relatively accurate representation of what audiences think about the movie near the end of the weekend, once Animals has registered enough reviews to earn a score on the Popcornmeter.