Matt Damon and Ben Affleck have reunited for a new movie that is set to premiere on Netflix in January – marking their third movie together in five years. The Rip tells the story of a Miami police department after the murder of its captain, and Damon and Affleck play a lieutenant and sergeant. The two men feature alongside a star-studded cast, with actors Steven Yeun, Teyana Taylor, Kyle Chandler, and Catalina Sandino Moreno also involved.
Throughout the film, the police officers act on a tip about a potential cartel stash where they uncover “far more than they anticipated”. As a result “everything comes into question – loyalties, motives, and even who they can truly trust”, the movie’s description explains.
As well as starring in The Rip, Damon and Affleck are also producing it through their company Artists Equity. Damon said that when it comes to choosing what movies the duo will produce, their goal is “always just to make movies that we think we’ll like”. He told GQ: “It kind of drives our creative team crazy, because they’re like, ‘What are we looking for?’ And we always just go, A good movie.”
The movie’s writer and director Joe Carnahan said the script “flew” out of him and described Damon and Affleck as the “cream of the crop” when it came to producing. Damon and Affleck set up Artists Equity in 2022, which is described as an “artist-led studio that creates entrepreneurial partnerships with filmmakers to empower their creative vision”.
At a Netflix Special Presentation event, Affleck said the movie “takes a look at the things people will do for money”. He added that it was a “really fun, engaging ride that keeps you guessing”, as well as a “compelling, complicated human drama”.
The story for The Rip came from a “deeply personal experience” that the writer’s friend went through, as the head of tactical narcotics for the Miami Dade police department.
Carnaham told Netflix’s Tudum: “It’s inspired in part by his life and then, by my enduring love for those classic ’70s cop thrillers that really valued the character and interpersonal relationships and became touchstones of that era — films like Serpico and Prince of The City and more recently, Michael Mann’s Heat.”
On YouTube, one fan said: “Ben Affleck in serious roles is always a masterpiece”, and another one commented: “I’m a simple man, I see Matt Damon and Ben Affleck in a movie together, I am watching it day one!”
Damon and Affleck rose to fame with their 1997 movie Good Will Hunting, which they wrote together and both starred in. Over the years, they have worked together either as actors or producers on films like Jersey Girl, The Instigators, and Small Things Like These. Most recently, the two appeared together in Air in 2023, and The Last Duel in 2021.
