Animals

Animals has plenty to like because the kidnapping premise creates an immediate moral dilemma. A wealthy Los Angeles mayoral candidate and his wife suddenly have to find the ransom money to save their son, forcing them into increasingly desperate and morally questionable choices. I like how the crisis becomes a test of character, exposing the difference between the respectable public image people carefully construct and what they are capable of when everything is at stake.

Ben Affleck works well as Mark Kimball because he can play authority, arrogance, vulnerability, and desperation without making the character particularly likable. Mark is accustomed to money, influence, and control, so watching those advantages become less useful gives the performance some interesting tension. Affleck makes his desperation believable while leaving room to question how much of his behavior comes from love for his son and how much comes from self-preservation.

Affleck’s direction is also a strength. Los Angeles becomes an important part of the story, creating a contrast between wealth, political influence, privilege, and people living with far fewer options. The movie is most interesting when the kidnapping thriller and the larger ideas about power and class naturally overlap.

The screenplay does not always live up to that setup. Some of the plotting feels too convenient, and the story occasionally seems more interested in creating the next complication than fully exploring the consequences of the one already unfolding. The political and social commentary can also be heavy-handed, particularly when dealing with privilege, immigration, inequality, and ambition. Those ideas are stronger when they emerge through the characters rather than being underlined by the screenplay. Animals has a strong premise and some effective moral tension, but it never becomes the sharp thriller that setup promises.