The Rip — The Netflix Film Everyone Is Talking About in 2026: Matt Damon & Ben Affleck Are Back Together and Better Than Ever
$24 million in drug money. A locked stash house. A team of cops who can't trust each other. And two of Hollywood's biggest stars reuniting for the first time in years. This is The Rip — and 90 million people already watched it.
When Matt Damon and Ben Affleck — two of Hollywood's most beloved friends — announced they were making a gritty cop thriller together for Netflix, fans lost their minds. And when The Rip finally dropped on January 16, 2026, it didn't just meet expectations. It demolished them. In its first two weeks alone, the film racked up a jaw-dropping 90+ million views across 93 countries — making it one of the biggest Netflix film launches in the platform's history.
"Leveraging Ben Affleck and Matt Damon's classic chemistry to texturize a friendship tested by greed, The Rip tears into its potboiler setup with compulsively watchable confidence."
— Rotten Tomatoes Critics Consensus (79% Fresh)🎯 What Is The Rip? The Story in a Nutshell
The Rip is a 2026 American action crime thriller written and directed by Joe Carnahan (known for Narc and Smokin' Aces). The film is set in Miami and follows a tactical narcotics team from the Miami-Dade Police Department who, during a raid on a suspected cartel stash house, discover a hidden fortune of $24 million in cash.
Here's the catch: Florida law requires them to count all the money on-site before they can leave. That means they're locked in a crumbling safehouse — surrounded by cartel money, with dangerous people closing in from outside, and growing suspicion eating away at the team from inside. Nobody knows who to trust. Not even old friends.
🔑 The title explained: In law enforcement slang, a "rip" refers to seizing cash or assets during a drug bust. The $24 million discovery is the "rip" — and it's what tears the whole team apart.
📰 Based on a True Story — The Real Events Behind the Film
The film is directly inspired by the true story of Miami-Dade County Police Captain Chris Casiano. In 2016, Casiano and his narcotics squad conducted an investigation and raid on a Miami Lakes residence — and what they found inside changed everything: $20 million hidden within the walls of the property.
Director Joe Carnahan had a personal connection to the story. As he explained: "The Rip came out of a deeply personal experience that my friend went through, both as a father and as head of tactical narcotics for the Miami-Dade police department." Carnahan added that his love for classic 1970s cop thrillers — films like Serpico, Prince of the City, and Michael Mann's Heat — also shaped how the film was made.
🌟 The Full Cast — Hollywood's Finest
The Rip brings together one of the strongest ensembles Netflix has ever assembled. Here's everyone you'll see on screen:
The film's lead — a quietly conflicted commander whose real motives keep you guessing from start to finish.
The more volatile of the two partners — ebullient, unpredictable, and dangerously suspicious of everyone around him.
The Nope and Minari star brings grounded intensity to the ensemble as one of the narcotics team members.
The Friday Night Lights legend plays a DEA agent whose involvement adds a whole new layer of tension.
The multi-talented singer and actress brings fierce energy as one of the team's most compelling members.
Known to DC fans as Supergirl in The Flash, Calle joins the ensemble in a key supporting role.
Oscar-nominated Colombian actress adding serious dramatic depth to the squad.
The action veteran brings physical intensity to the film's most dangerous sequences.
🤝 Matt & Ben: A 30-Year Friendship Now on Screen Again
The real magic of The Rip isn't the action — it's the chemistry. Damon and Affleck first met as neighbors in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and have been inseparable ever since. Their bond goes back over 30 years, and it bleeds into every scene they share on screen.
The two won an Academy Award together for co-writing Good Will Hunting (1997) — one of cinema's most beloved stories. They later appeared together in Dogma, The Last Duel, and Air. And as legend has it, their very first film appearance was as uncredited extras in Field of Dreams.
"He is so understated, so real and so honest — it's the opposite of a 'showy' performance."
— Ben Affleck on Matt Damon's acting in The Rip (GQ interview)"Our goal is always to just make movies that we think we'll like… A good movie."
— Matt Damon on making The Rip (GQ interview, September 2025)🎥 Behind the Scenes: How The Rip Was Made
The film is produced through Artists Equity — the artist-led studio that Damon and Affleck co-founded together in 2022, with the philosophy of putting creators first. The Rip is the studio's second major project, and it came with a landmark deal.
💡 A historic deal for Netflix workers: The contract between Artists Equity and Netflix is genuinely groundbreaking. Netflix agreed to pay a one-time bonus to all 1,200 people who worked on the film — including crew members — if the movie hits certain performance benchmarks within its first 90 days. This is a major departure from Netflix's standard model of flat upfront fees.
With 90+ million views already, those benchmarks were almost certainly met. 🎉
Principal photography began on October 3, 2024 in Los Angeles and was scheduled to wrap by December 11, 2024. The film was originally planned for a fall 2025 release, but was pushed back slightly to January 16, 2026.
📱 How Netflix Changed the Script — And Matt Damon's Honest Reaction
In one of the most candid interviews around the film, Matt Damon revealed that Netflix had some unusual demands when they signed on as the distributor — and his explanation of them is both funny and fascinating.
"A standard way to make an action movie is you usually have three set pieces. One in the first act, one in the second, one in the third. And the big one with all the explosions, you spend most of your money on that one in the third act. Now, Netflix is like: 'Can we get a big one in the first five minutes? We want people to stay tuned in.' And it wouldn't be terrible if you reiterated the plot three or four times in the dialogue — because people are on their phone while they're watching."
— Matt Damon, on Netflix's script requirementsIt's a remarkably honest glimpse into how streaming has changed the way action films are structured — and a reminder that even two Oscar winners aren't above getting notes from the platform.
🕐 From True Story to Netflix Sensation: The Timeline
📊 The Numbers Don't Lie: Record-Breaking Viewership
The scale of The Rip's success on Netflix is genuinely hard to wrap your head around. Here's what the data shows:
To put that in context: The Rip's opening was Netflix's biggest film debut since Happy Gilmore 2, which had set a record with 46.7 million views. And unlike some Netflix films that spike and vanish, The Rip had genuine staying power — with a staggering 7-week run in the Top 10 across 93 countries.
🍅 What Critics Said: The Good and the Honest
The Rip earned a Certified Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes with 79% approval from 146 critics, and a score of 63/100 on Metacritic, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. Most critics agreed on one thing: Damon and Affleck's chemistry is undeniable.
"While it offers little we haven't seen, and stumbles a bit at points, the sense of unease we feel confined to essentially one location is well-executed. This feels like what we need from the genre right now."
— Critics Review, Rotten Tomatoes"Stacked with big screen talent, The Rip delivers solid entertainment to your living room — even if its second half slips into gratuitous action."
— Rotten Tomatoes Audience Summary"I think Affleck delivers his finest performance since The Town."
— IMDB Audience Review🎬 Should You Watch The Rip? Here's the Verdict
If you love action thrillers — this is a fast, tense, and very watchable 90-minute ride. The single-location setup creates real claustrophobic pressure.
If you love Damon and Affleck — their real-life friendship adds a layer of authenticity to the "can I trust you?" dynamic that no other pair of actors could replicate.
If you want deep character development — this is a lean, propulsive thriller, not a slow character study. Don't go in expecting Good Will Hunting.
Have You Watched The Rip Yet? 🍿
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