Ben Affleck and Kerry Washington face a kidnapping nightmare in Netflix thriller Animals

Ben Affleck and Kerry Washington are plunged into a race to save their son in Animals, a new Netflix thriller directed by Affleck and arriving this October.

The film follows a Los Angeles mayoral candidate and his wife whose lives are thrown into turmoil when their son is kidnapped. Faced with raising the ransom money, the couple become caught in a web of deception where the decisions they make – and the secrets they are forced to reveal – threaten both their family and the carefully constructed life around them.

Affleck stars alongside Washington, with Gillian Anderson, Adriana Paz, Ray Fisher, Christopher Woodley, Matt Gerald and Jacob Estrada also appearing. Luis Gerardo Méndez and Steven Yeun round out the ensemble.

The film sees Affleck return to directing as well as taking a role in front of the camera. He also co-wrote the screenplay with Connor O’McIntyre and Billy Ray, and produces alongside Brad Weston, Collin Creighton, Matt Damon, Dani Bernfeld and Luciana Damon.

A new trailer offers the first extended look at the kidnapping and the increasingly difficult choices facing the couple as they attempt to bring their son home.

With a political campaign, a ransom demand and buried secrets all colliding, Animals places its family drama at the centre of a high-stakes thriller where saving one relationship could mean exposing another.

The editorial unit

Animals is released on Netflix on 9^th October 2026.

Watch the trailer for Animals here: