Ben Affleck's Netflix movie "Animals" is not based on a true story but rather on the plot of Ed McBain's 1959 novel "King’s Ransom," which also inspired Akira Kurosawa's film "High and Low." The movie tells the tale of wealthy lawyer Mark, played by Affleck, whose son is kidnapped during his mayoral campaign. Initially, Affleck had planned to cancel production due to similarities with Spike Lee’s recent remake "Highest 2 Lowest" but decided to proceed, believing that "Animals" has a distinct approach and will be judged on its own merits.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-10,
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Story summary
Ben Affleck's new Netflix film Animals, which he both directed and co-wrote, has sparked discussions about its plot similarities to other works. Released in 2023, the movie stars Ben Affleck as a wealthy lawyer running an independent campaign for mayor of Los Angeles. When his son is kidnapped, Mark's hidden flaws and marital issues are exposed.
Critics note that the storyline bears resemblance to Ed McBain’s 1959 novel King’s Ransom, featuring a similar plot involving a wealthy businessman willing to pay ransom for his abducted child. Despite these parallels, Animals is not based on any real events or true stories; it's entirely fictional.
The cast includes Kerry Washington, Gillian Anderson, Adriana Paz, Luis Gerardo Méndez, and Steven Yeun. Initially, Affleck planned to have Matt Damon and Jennifer Garner in the film but later decided against it.
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Warning: This article contains spoilers for the Animals movie on Netflix.
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article → contain → Netflix
If you watch a lot of movies, you might think that the plot of Animals, the new Ben Affleck Netflix movie, sounds a little familiar.
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plot → watch → Animals
Directed by Affleck himself, who also co-wrote the script with Connor O. McIntyre and Billy Ray, Animals stars Affleck as a wealthy lawyer running an independently financed campaign to become the next mayor of Los Angeles.
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Animals → direct → Angeles
But just because he’s not affiliated with a political party doesn’t mean he doesn’t have his own problems.
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he → affiliate → problems
When a bad actor kidnaps Mark’s son, his true nature shows its face, and the dirty secrets between him and his wife (Kerry Washington) are forced to the surface.
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secrets → kidnap → surface
The all-star Animals movie cast also includes Gillian Anderson, Adriana Paz with Luis Gerardo Méndez, and Steven Yeun.
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cast → include → Méndez
(Originally, Affleck had wanted his buddy Matt Damon and his ex-wife Jennifer Garner to star in the film, but it didn’t work out.)
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it → want → film
So why does the plot of this movie ring some bells?
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plot → ring → bells
Is Animals based on a true story?
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Animals → base → story
Not quite.
Is Netflix’s Animals movie based on a true story?
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movie → base → story
The Animals 2026 movie is not based on a true story.
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movie → base → story
The story is made-up, and the characters are not based on real-life people.
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characters → make → people
That said, the plot of the story is very similar to the plot of the 1959 novel King’s Ransom by American author Ed McBain, about a wealthy tycoon named Douglas King, who is ready and willing to pay the ransom for his kidnapped son.
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who → say → son
But then his son comes home safe, and King realizes it was someone else’s son who was kidnapped.
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who → come → ?
Will King still pay to save this unrelated child?
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King → pay → child
In fact, in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Affleck revealed that he initially pulled the plug on Animals—two weeks before production was set to begin—after he heard about Lee’s film.
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he → reveal → film
“We get very close to shooting, and then somebody said to me, ‘Hey, you know, there’s this other movie that Spike [Lee] and Denzel [Washington] are doing that’s about a kidnapping,” Affleck says.
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Affleck → get → kidnapping
Affleck has not, apparently, seen the Kurosawa film, and does not consider Animals to be another film adaptation of Ed McBain’s King’s Ransom novel.
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Animals → see → novel
He considers it to be an original film.
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it → consider → ?
“What I’m really interested in is something wholly apart from, I think, what these other movies are dealing with,” Affleck told Entertainment Weekly, referring to High and Low and Highest 2 Lowest.
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Affleck → ’m → High
“I think it’s different enough, at least from what I understand about those movies, that this will be judged on its own merits, frankly.”
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this → think → merits
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