Ben Affleck is putting a marriage, a political career and a kidnapped child through the wringer in the official trailer for Animals. The Netflix crime thriller, directed and co-written by Affleck, finds him and Kerry Washington playing a seemingly successful couple whose carefully constructed life starts coming apart when their son is taken. Watch the trailer above and get the details below.

A Kidnapping Forces the Masks Off

Affleck plays Mark Kimball, a Los Angeles mayoral candidate with the polished campaign, wealthy home and picture-perfect family expected of a man asking voters to put their trust in him. Washington is his wife, Abigail, a therapist, while Christopher Woodley plays their son, Denny.

Then Denny is kidnapped. Mark and Abigail are forced to scramble for the ransom, but the trailer makes it clear that money may be only one of their problems. Gillian Anderson plays Dayle, a specialist brought in to help navigate the kidnapping, and she delivers the warning that appears to crack open the film’s real mystery: “Your son’s life is at stake. So whatever secrets you’ve kept from one another need to come out now.”

And there certainly appear to be secrets. Suspicion starts moving in several directions as panic sets in, relationships are tested and the couple’s public image begins to crumble. Another ominous line in the trailer lays out the game being played: “Power creates leverage, and leverage dictates outcomes.”

So, who has leverage over whom? What have Mark and Abigail been hiding from each other? And, perhaps most importantly, who is really behind the kidnapping?

The Marriage May Be the Real Crime Scene

While Animals has the machinery of a fast-moving kidnapping thriller, Affleck has made it clear that the marriage at its centre is just as important as solving the crime. “The movie is really about marriage — what it means to attach yourself to someone, the bargains and exchanges,” he told Netflix’s Tudum.

The film digs into how much two people can truly know about each other and what happens when maintaining appearances is no longer an option. Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Affleck put that idea in broader terms: “We live in a world that increasingly asks us to live a presented life.”

Washington said the crisis sends Mark and Abigail’s already troubled relationship towards a breaking point.

“There are certain couples where, when tragedy strikes, or there’s a crisis at hand, it either moves them closer together or breaks them apart.”

That tension fits neatly with Mark’s political life. His career depends on controlling how people see him, while the kidnapping keeps stripping that control away. The more desperate the situation becomes, the harder it is for either spouse to control which version of themselves the other gets to see.

Washington has also spoken about the preparation she and Affleck put into establishing that relationship before cameras rolled. In a 2025 interview with InStyle, she revealed: “We did a full week of rehearsal before filming even began, which is unheard of.”

The wider ensemble had plenty of preparation, too. Netflix says the cast rehearsed for several weeks at the Los Angeles home used as the Kimballs’ residence. Affleck said he was conscious of the baggage and expectations viewers would bring to familiar faces: “You want to use that and then drift away from it in ways that help tell your story.”

Alongside Affleck, Washington and Anderson, the ensemble includes Steven Yeun as Mark’s campaign manager, Sam, as well as Adriana Paz, Ray Fisher, Luis Gerardo Méndez, Matt Gerald and Jacob Estrada.

Animals Almost Had a Very Different Cast

The finished film is quite different from the version Affleck originally prepared to shoot. Matt Damon was initially set to play Mark, with Jennifer Garner lined up as Abigail. According to Affleck, speaking with Entertainment Weekly, production was only around two weeks away when he decided to shut the film down after learning more about Spike Lee’s Highest 2 Lowest, another kidnapping thriller that Affleck felt shared enough DNA with Animals to create an unwanted comparison.

The project refused to stay dead. Affleck returned to it a couple of months later, but Damon was no longer available due to Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey. Affleck ultimately took the lead role himself, which also prompted another rethink: he and Garner decided that playing a married couple would bring too much real-world baggage to the screen.

Washington then stepped into the role of Abigail, while Affleck remained behind the camera and in front of it. Animals marks his first feature as director since 2023’s Air and the fifth film in which he has directed himself.

The screenplay is credited to Affleck, Connor O. McIntyre and Billy Ray.

When Is Animals Released?

Animals will be released in select cinemas and arrive on Netflix on October 9, 2026.

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