Animals review – Ben Affleck’s dull Netflix thriller is lacking in bark and bite

Actor-director’s low-energy Los Angeles crime thriller results in a surprisingly anonymous production that closely resembles several other, superior films.

Ben Affleck has navigated numerous Hollywood revivals, at least one built on his skill behind the camera, directing Boston-based thrillers that range from artistically ambitious (Gone Baby Gone) to crowd-pleasing (The Town). So now that his acting career seems especially stable, with steady work and film production through the company he established with longtime friend and collaborator Matt Damon, why does his directing career remain stuck in what feels like a post-Oscar slump? (Though he has never received a best director Oscar nomination, his film Argo won best picture in 2013.) His latest film, Animals, seems perfectly tailored to his strengths: it’s a Los Angeles crime-and-politics thriller to match his earlier East Coast work. The real surprise, however, is just how lifeless it can be.

Affleck himself plays Mark Kimball, a Los Angeles resident running for mayor of his hometown. His status as an independent candidate without party affiliation (and one who barely reveals any platform in the limited glimpses of his stump speeches and interviews) is only one aspect of his improbable backstory, which also includes a past as a teacher, lawyer, and veteran of the first Gulf War. (The timeline may not entirely add up, but let’s accept it as evidence of Mark’s blend of service dedication and fierce ambition.) He has used his family’s wealth to push through the final stretch of a tight campaign, and tensions are moderately high with his wife, Abby (Kerry Washington), who is concealing some issues of her own. Things worsen significantly when, on Halloween, he receives a phone call: Kidnappers have taken his preteen son, Denny (Christopher Woodley). They are demanding $7m that Mark doesn’t have to secure his safe return.