January has quietly become a refuge for muscular, no-frills thrillers—films designed less for awards chatter and more for late-night escapism. In past years, this slot belonged to Gerard Butler or Jason Statham. In 2026, however, the baton has unexpectedly passed to Oscar winners Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, who headline Netflix’s glossy crime thriller The Rip.
Directed by Joe Carnahan, the film is loud, confident, and unapologetically old-school. It’s the kind of swaggering action drama that feels ripped from the early 2000s—back when star power alone could carry a $100 million, R-rated movie into packed multiplexes. Today, that same energy finds its home on streaming.
A Big-Screen Movie Forced Into a Small-Screen World
The Rip looks and feels like a theatrical release that somehow missed its moment. In a different era, it would have dominated IMAX screens rather than debuting on Netflix. Yet the streaming giant’s willingness to bankroll risky, non-franchise projects is precisely why this film exists at all.
Netflix reportedly adjusted its usual pay structure to accommodate Artists Equity, the profit-sharing model Affleck and Damon helped popularize—allowing cast and crew to benefit if the film performs well. It’s a rare move and a telling sign of how much confidence the streamer had in the project.
Joe Carnahan Back in Familiar Territory
Carnahan, who broke out with the gritty crime drama Narc in 2002, has long been a dependable name in the action-thriller space. His filmography includes titles like Smokin’ Aces, The A-Team, Copshop, and the standout survival drama The Grey. While his recent work has struggled to find an audience, The Rip feels like a return to his comfort zone.
Co-written with TV writer Michael McGrale, the film is lean, direct, and designed for maximum momentum rather than subtlety.
A Dangerous Discovery and a Test of Loyalty
Inspired by alleged real-life events, The Rip centers on a group of Miami police officers who stumble upon a hidden fortune during a routine operation. Damon plays Dane, with Affleck as JD, his trusted partner. When a money-sniffing dog leads them to over $20 million stashed in a suburban attic, the question isn’t how to move the cash—it’s who can be trusted once greed enters the equation.
The ensemble cast includes Teyana Taylor, Steven Yeun, and Catalina Sandino Moreno, each adding texture even when the script gives them limited room to breathe. The tension escalates quickly as suspicion creeps in, alliances fracture, and every decision threatens to unravel the group.
Star Power Does the Heavy Lifting
Some of the dialogue—especially the repeated jargon surrounding the “rip”—never quite sounds natural, and the film occasionally leans too hard into macho posturing. Still, Affleck and Damon’s decades-long chemistry elevates material that could have felt routine in lesser hands.
They bring emotional grounding to otherwise thinly sketched backstories, giving the film a human pulse beneath its bravado. Watching them inhabit roles typically reserved for second-tier action stars feels like an indulgence—a gourmet topping on a fast-food thriller.
A standout among the supporting cast is Sasha Calle, whose portrayal of a young woman caught in the chaos adds genuine tension. Her quiet fear and escalating desperation inject urgency into the film’s second half.
Style Over Subtlety—By Design
Carnahan’s direction is bold, noisy, and proudly unsubtle. Influenced heavily by the high-octane cinema of Jerry Bruckheimer’s heyday, The Rip moves with relentless confidence. While it may not always look as expensive as its reported budget suggests, it compensates with attitude and pace.
The mystery at the heart of the story doesn’t quite deliver the clever payoff it promises, though a flashback-heavy explanation scene—delivered in the back of a DEA truck—adds an amusingly theatrical flourish. From there, the film shifts gears into near-constant action.
One drawback is how the female characters are pushed to the sidelines despite being more than capable of matching the men beat for beat. Ultimately, The Rip is a boys’ club affair—loud, rough, and unapologetically masculine.
Final Verdict
The Rip isn’t aiming for reinvention. It’s content being a brash, beer-in-hand thriller built for easy consumption. And on those terms, it largely succeeds.
This is a movie to throw on at the end of a long week, enjoy for its star power and momentum, and move on from the next morning. It may not linger in memory, but for a Friday-night watch, it delivers exactly what it promises.
Rating: 3/5
The Rip is streaming on Netflix from January 16, 2026.