Ben Affleck's 106-Minute Thriller Holds Streaming Crown

Despite drawing the worst reviews of his filmmaking career, Ben Affleck's new political thriller has become a genuine hit for Netflix. The streamer is in the midst of a major behind-the-scenes shake-up, but Affleck's film represents the culmination of a new strategy to move away from mega-budget tentpoles and focus on mid-budget genre titles.

Over the course of 2026, Netflix has released a string of smaller-scale hits, several of which have reached the coveted 100 million views mark. After topping the streamer's viewership charts for four weeks in a row, Affleck's new movie is on its way to hitting that milestone as well, despite some less-than-flattering reviews.

The movie in question follows a Los Angeles mayoral candidate who finds himself in a moral dilemma when his son is kidnapped. The film shares the same premise as Akira Kurosawa's classic drama High and Low, which inspired a Hollywood remake only a few months ago. This time last year, director Spike Lee reunited with Denzel Washington on the Apple TV film Highest 2 Lowest, which received more positive reviews than Affleck's version.

Here's Where Ben Affleck's Thriller Stands

We're talking, of course, about Animals. The movie appears to have settled at a 29% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, where the consensus reads, "Despite all the makings of an enticing story, including a compelling Kerry Washington, Animals' weak writing prevents it from reaching its full potential." By comparison, Lee's Highest 2 Lowest holds a "Certified Fresh" 83% score on the aggregator. Despite the mediocre reviews, Animals added 4.7 million views in the week of October 26 to November 1.

In its previous three weeks of release, the movie generated 23.8 million views, 30.8 million views, and 10.7 million views. This takes the film's total viewership to 70 million in four weeks. This year, Netflix has released a string of genre movies that have passed 100 million views; this list includes War Machine, Thrash, and Apex, with The Last House having generated more than 90 million views and The Whisper Man sitting at more than 80 million views. Netflix calculates total viewership based on a title's performance in the first three months of its release, meaning that Animals has two more months to go before the counting stops.