“In a crisis, we discover who we are, and what’s important to us,” Mark Kimball (Ben Affleck) says over the opening frames of the new Animals trailer, which you can see above. “I see now more than ever how true those words are.”
Coming to Netflix on Oct. 9, the thriller, directed and co-written by Affleck, introduces its protagonist as a successful politician, loving father, and doting husband to Abigail (Kerry Washington). But that glittering facade is cracked when Mark and Abigail’s son Denny (Christopher Woodley) is kidnapped.
Between scenes of Mark's glad-handing of constituents and images of domestic bliss, the trailer unfurls this terrifying kidnapping plot. It will drive the desperate couple to the brink. “Who are we really? Who are we when our masks come off?” Affleck asks. “Ultimately, this is a story about whether people have a real moral compass or seek to do what's in their best interests.”
At its heart, Affleck notes, Animals is also about the delicate balance of a happy marriage. “Your son’s life is at stake,” the mysterious fixer Dayle (Emmy winner Gillian Anderson) tells Mark and Abigail. “So whatever secrets you’ve kept from one another need to come out now.”
It’s a conflict that turns an already terrifying ordeal into an existential one. “The movie is really about marriage — what it means to attach yourself to someone, the bargains and exchanges,” Affleck says.
When it came to assembling his cast, which includes Emmy winner Steven Yeun, Cannes Best Actress winner Adriana Paz, and Luis Gerardo Méndez, Affleck looked for actors who were “good collaborators.” The ensemble rehearsed for several weeks ahead of shooting, working on-location at the Kimballs’ lavish Los Angeles home.
“I’m a big believer that the audience has expectations of me, of Kerry, of Steven, of everyone,” Affleck says. “You want to use that and then drift away from it in ways that help tell your story.”
Co-written by Connor McIntyre and Billy Ray, Animals is produced in partnership with Artists Equity, the artist-led studio founded by Affleck, Matt Damon, and Gerry Cardinale of RedBird Capital. Producers include Brad Weston, Collin Creighton, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Dani Bernfeld, and Luciana Damon.
Animals hits Netflix on Oct. 9.
