Ben Affleck’s latest directorial, Animals, has landed with a thud — on Rotten Tomatoes, at least. The Netflix thriller, which stars Affleck as a mayoral candidate forced to pay a ransom for his kidnapped son, has earned a 44% audience score, the second-lowest of his career and a record for the worst audience rating in the platform’s history. That’s not counting the critics, who gave it 37%, a mark that matches his lowest-ever directorial effort, Live by Night (2016). The film’s fall from grace is especially sharp given Affleck’s track record: Gone Baby Gone, The Town, and Argo remain benchmarks in modern American cinema. Even Air (2023), his comeback biopic with Matt Damon, was hailed as a triumph. Now, Animals is being called a misfire on all fronts. Critics and viewers alike have panned its contrived plot, tonal whiplash. Shifting from political drama to action spectacle, and visuals they describe as unconvincing, particularly in the climax. A scene involving a car chase through downtown LA has been widely mocked online, with audiences calling it absurd and unrealistic. The controversy deepened when Affleck confirmed the film used AI in production, a detail some say contributed to the lifeless look. Still, the movie has found one victory: it’s currently No. 1 on Netflix’s US top 10 list, outperforming Tyler Perry’s Doing Life and multiple Ice Age films. But whether that translates into real viewership remains unclear. And while Affleck says he reworked the script after learning Spike Lee and Denzel Washington were developing a similar abduction story (Highest 2 Lowest), the film still feels like a retread. No word yet on his next project. Though sources suggest he’ll take a break, as he usually does between gigs. For now, Animals is a rare stumble in an otherwise stellar career. The question isn’t whether it’s good. It’s whether it’s even worth watching.