The Rip (2026) Dir: Joe Carnahan

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Typically speaking, I'm either a big fan of a cop film, or I'm really, really, not. I really wasn't sure what to expect from this Netflix original cop thriller, which was directed by Joe Carnahan, but I quite liked that near-lifelong friends Matt Damon and Ben Affleck were teaming up to make another film together. Reviews have been, generally speaking, quite middling for the film, so my expectations were never that high for it - something I hoped would work in this film's favour.

Although it didn't look terrible, I certainly had issues with the cinematography of the film. During the action sequences, which were decent enough, in fairness, much of what was unfolding was disrupted by irritating camerawork and lighting, which left me irritated, particularly during one shoot-out in an already dark room. I'm not saying the film should have been lit like a Christmas tree, but I needed to be able to see at least a little bit more.

The writing left me a little divided. The narrative was fairly tense, and I liked some of the twists, but it seemed to go on forever. It was also very much the kind of self-serious 'copaganda' that really makes your eyes roll. In just about every way, this was a total Dad flick. Furthermore, the amount of swearing happening irritated me a lot. I don't mind a bit of swearing, but it felt like every other word in the screenplay was an expletive of some sort. That's not good writing.

Matt Damon provided a typically very solid performance in the film's lead role, bringing his more intense acting to the fore to, at times, great effect. A couple of his scenes weren't so good, but, for the most part, I thought he did well. Unsurprisingly, his chemistry with Ben Affleck was extremely strong, with the scenes between the two being among the film's best. Affleck, for his part, was also pretty good, though he has never quite been as strong as Damon, in my opinion. Regardless, I enjoyed his work, especially in the final third of the film.

Steven Yeun was actually my favourite performer in the film, thanks to some really compelling acting in the Middle portion of the film. I was a little underwhelmed by some of his acting towards the end of the film, but the vast majority of his performance was extremely good. I don't know what was going on with Teyana Taylor, but this performance was nowhere close to the level she has shown she can reach. I was almost baffled seeing her give such a mediocre performance.

If there was one consolidation for Taylor, it was that she wasn't the only poor performer in the film. I didn't particularly care for any of the other supporting cast members, to be honest. Sasha Calle was fine, but suffered because of her character's dialogue, whereas, the likes of Kyle Chandler, Catalina Sandino Moreno, and Scott Adkins simply weren't at the races at all, from my vantage point.

Overall, I thought this was a fairly good, but undoubtedly troubled, crime thriller. I liked more about the film than I honestly expected to, but there were still a number of elements that I felt very lukewarm about. As certified dad films go, I enjoyed it, but I doubt I'll be thinking about this film again anytime soon. It's the kind of Netflix original that is popular for a couple of weeks, but is then swiftly forgotten about by the vast majority.