The Rip (2026) | Film Review

There’s something quietly magnetic about watching two old friends meet again on screen, especially when those friends are Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, and that’s the emotional fuel that The Rip burns through for much of its runtime. Directed by Joe Carnahan (The Grey, A-Team), this is a crime thriller steeped in moral ambiguity and rattling paranoia, one that leans as much on its central performances as it does on its procedural mechanics.

At its core, The Rip unfolds around a specialized faction of Miami cops known as TNT (Tactical Narcotics Team). They are a unit whose daily grind involves retrieving cartel cash from the field and counting it, on site, before it can ever see an evidence locker. On paper, it’s a neat twist on the typical detective setup, but Carnahan and his cast turn those clever ideas into something self-aware and troubling, especially once we learn that a massive “rip” – that is, a huge cash seizure – is on the horizon and someone is clearly leaking information. To whom and for what purposes is the question. From this point on, the film becomes less about catching criminals than catching shadows of betrayal within the team itself.

Matt Damon plays Lt. Dane Dumars, the unit’s steady heartbeat. He’s calm, measured, the kind of cop who prides himself on procedure and discipline. Damon gives Dumars an ominous layer of tension, a man who wants to do things the right way, even when the world around him makes it increasingly unclear what “right” even means anymore. His character has gone through a personal upheaval, is it enough for him to consider pocketing a chunk of cartel coin? Damon does an admirable job forcing us to debate this throughout the film.

Opposite him, Ben Affleck delivers one of the most compelling performances of his career as Detective J.D. Byrne, a wiry, unpredictable force of nature whose presence almost upends the film’s gravitational center. Affleck’s Byrne is the character you can’t take your eyes off: restless, jittery, and operating just on the edge of madness. It’s an unusual turn for Affleck, one that feels all his own, and he dominates scenes in a way that both surprises and – crucially – feels earned.

This Affleck/Damon pairing is more than a reunion; it’s a reminder of why their rapport has lasted across decades of collaboration. There’s real history in their banter and interaction, a lived-in sense of familiarity that pays dividends in the scenes where trust is fraying fast and everyone looks a little too hard at everyone else. A lesser film might have leaned into the novelty of seeing them together again, but Carnahan’s The Rip uses that energy to underscore how tested friendships and moral compasses can unravel in high-stakes pressure.

Supporting roles are solid if undercooked. Kyle Chandler brings predictability and authority that ground the story, while Steven Yeun, Teyana Taylor, Sasha Calle, Catalina Sandino Moreno, and Scott Adkins fill out the world with flashes of intensity and connective tissue to the cartel subplot. They serve the narrative well, though it’s clear the movie’s true pull remains with the two leads.

Carnahan’s direction is energetic, the pacing often brisk, the tension palpable. The Rip moves with confidence and urgency, though its action sequences occasionally feel too skittish for their own good, as if determined not to linger long enough for the audience to catch its breath. But while those moments sometimes undercut the film’s dramatic weight, they’re balanced by the infectious intrigue of the story itself: once you’re drawn into this moral maze, you rarely want to look away.

Where The Rip ultimately succeeds is in its blend of tangible procedural drama and something a little more existential: the feeling that, in this world of dollars and deception, the real challenge isn’t catching the bad guys, it’s figuring out which version of “good” you are still willing to believe in. For a Netflix Original, that is a refreshing philosophical undercurrent. It is not just pulse-pounding action or gritty crime storytelling. It is a movie that has something to say about loyalty, about trust, and about who we become when the line between right and wrong stops looking all that different.

In the end, The Rip is not perfect, but it is compelling. Between one of Hollywood’s most enduring collaborations and a director who clearly delights in pushing his characters to the edge, it is a rare Netflix thriller that resonates long after the credits roll.