Animals

2026106 mins2 reviews0 providers

Thriller Drama

Ratings & Highlights

IMDb

8.0/10

Rotten Tomatoes

83%

TMDB Popularity

Movie Facts

Date Released

Fri Oct 09 2026

Runtime

106 mins

Box Office

NaN

Popularity

Actors

Ricky Gervais, Stirling Gallacher

Director

Dominic Brigstocke

Writers

Ricky Gervais

Streaming Providers

N/A

Overview

When the son of an L.A. mayoral candidate is kidnapped, he and his wife have a few hours to come up with the ransom payment. With most of their money spent on his political campaign, they have to get their hands dirty and expose a side of their lives they never intended to see the light of day.

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Trailer

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Reviews

Dean

Sat Oct 10 2026

Just another predictable, agenda-driven Hollywood production. Every time I watch something made in Los Angeles, I know it will be crap. So glad to be far away from that environment.

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Livio Andrea Acerbo

Sun Oct 18 2026

Animals is the rare case where critics and audiences are both right. The hook is superb: a mayoral candidate who has mortgaged his house for the campaign, a kidnapped son, a ransom he can no longer pay, and a few hours on the clock. It is a one-sentence pitch, and the first hour sells it well. The clock feels real and the first act is tight. Kerry Washington is the performance to watch. She gives the panic and the compromises a weight the script often doesn't. Then Gillian Anderson walks in as a fixer who can find cash fast if you are willing to owe her, and the film wakes up. Every scene with her has an edge. The problem is the writing. Once the premise is set, the story lurches from one desperate move to the next, and the third act is where viewers split. The most interesting idea, which I won't spoil, is a moral question the film poses and then refuses to answer cleanly: is a choice decency or calculation? That ambiguity is the best thing in it. The dialogue and plotting around it are much weaker. Fans of Kurosawa's High and Low will notice the echo, even though the film never credits it. Ben Affleck directs, co-writes and stars, stepping in after Matt Damon left, and you can feel a production that came together in a hurry. Verdict: a great logline stretched over 106 minutes. Watch it as a tense Saturday-night thriller and you'll have fun. Just don't expect the script to live up to the premise.

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