Ben Affleck (Gone Baby Gone, The Town, Argo) directs this script he co-wrote about LA mayoral candidate Mark Kimball (Affleck) and his wife, Abigail (Kerry Washington), who believe their son, Denny (Christopher Woodley), has been kidnapped. They’re instructed to pay $7 million or their son dies. The problem is they’re broke because—unbeknownst to Abigail—Mark has leveraged their life savings to finance his campaign. Now they must decide what drastic measures they’re willing to take involving a fixer named Dayle Burton (Gillian Anderson).
ANIMALS
What’s it rated? R
When? 2026
Where’s it showing? Netflix
If the plot sounds familiar, it’s because Akira Kurosawa’s film High and Low (1963) follows a similar story. That film was based on Even Hunter’s novel King’s Ransom (1959). There was also the Spike Lee film Highest 2 Lowest (2025) starring Denzel Washington.
The central conceit is that the wrong kid was kidnapped, and with the ransom money procured and the threat to another child just as real, do they pay the ransom to save the other boy? The twist here is Mark is trying to become mayor, and sacrificing a kid over money looks bad.
It starts off well but goes off the rails in the third act, making this a rare fumble for the Oscar-winning director. (106 min.)
This article appears in Oct 15-22, 2026.
