“The Rip” was written & directed by Joe Carnahan, is based on actual events & stars Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Steven Yeun, Sasha Calle, Teyana Taylor, Scott Adkins & Kyle Chandler. Damon & Affleck also serve as producers on the film and is the 11th film under their new production company, Artists Equity, which also produced 2023’s “Air”, which also starred Damon & Affleck and 2025’s “The Accountant 2”. The film is based on the story of Sheriff Chris Casiano of Dade County in Miami, Florida, in which he and small narcotics task force uncovered a major money & drug bust in their county that was estimated to be worth over $20 million.
After their Captain is murdered during an investigation into a cartel’s safe house, a small group of cops investigate the case despite themselves being under the eyes of the FBI. Lt. Dane Dumars (Damon) gets an anonymous tip about a safe house in a neighboring county. He & his team which include, Sgt. JD Bryne (Affleck), detectives Ro (Yeun) & Numa (Taylor) come to a house that looks a little too “safe”. The occupant is a young girl, Desi (Calle) who claims to be the granddaughter of the owner. The team quickly discover that there is money stashed in the house. However to their surprise, instead of the typical $150K in a standard safe house, the teams comes across over $20 million. Now, an unbelievable sense of paranoia sets in among the team as the failure to report to higher ups or the feds is gone, the idea of set up by the cartel creeps and maybe an inside job could the reason but nonetheless the team is completely vulnerable and with no backup, the threat of danger is certain imminent.
This film was very entertaining compared to a lot of other January release as well other Netflix’s other original films. The castings top tier, the action is solid and the directing great. Matt Damon & Ben Affleck are pros and come ready to play and have great chemistry with the rest of cast. Where the movie falters however, is the overall story. Police corruption and money laundering is a familiar story with films like “S.W.A.T”, “Street Kings”, “Training Day” & others. Then you add the Miami setting & background, it has the feel of “Bad Boys” although there’s no scene at the beach, which is kind of a bummer. The story has a nice flow to it but it quickly gets complicated as the reveal who all is involved and who did what is much too complicated to keep up with. The idea that not knowing who all is involved but quickly too much to keep up with due to the fact that certain characters don’t get a whole lot of screen time. One character in particular gets so little that once their involvement is compromised, you almost forget that they’re in the movie. This movie is nothing more than a run of the mill action crime thriller with some entertaining action sequences with a solid cast and director.
The film was released on Netflix on January 26th, 2026.