- Date of Release: 16 January 2026
- Genre: Action, Crime, Drama, Mystery
- Language: English
- Watch On: Netflix
The RIP
Introduction
When you talk about cinematic acting partnerships, the names closer to home would be Shahrukh Khan and Salman Khan. Elsewhere, the immediate names that pop-up are that of Matt Damon and Ben Affleck – two stars in their own rights that kickstarted their journey together with a beautiful film like Good Will Hunting (1997). Almost three decades later, the dynamic duo are back with their new Netflix film The Rip, and honestly at this point, I would watch them in anything that is served to me. But to be fair, The Rip immediately felt like a B-movie that is riddled with mystery served with a piping hot gravy of cliche and convenience. And did I mention campy too? There is a familiar aesthetic that engulfs the narrative at the start – a murder transpires, an interrogation unfolds, and everything points to an insider job. The element of surprise that once formulated similar stories over the years was immediately established, and served on a platter here. The only question that remained was who remained behind the corruption brewing in the department. Interesting would you say?
Story & Screenplay
Written by Michael McGrale and Joe Carnahan, The Rip is a slang that officially stands for the stash of money, a key component that offers a starting point in the drama. It is friday evening and you see the Tactical Narcotics Team (TNT) chilling together just when Lt Dane Dumas (Matt Damon) gets a tip about an illegal stash being located in the nearby neighbourhood. After moments of mulling, the team comprising of <span;>Det. Sgt. JD Byrne (Ben Affleck), <span;>Det. Mike Ro (Steven Yeun), Det. Numa Baptiste (Teyana Taylor) and Det. Lolo Salazar (Catalina Sandino Moreno), decide to investigate the matter. The obvious signs of a conspiracy are evident when Dumas decides to give a different figure to each of his team members, a context that is made clear only later on.
By the very design, the screenplay here is a cross breed between the A-Team and an Agatha Christie mystery. The latter basically means that everyone is a suspect including Dumas who is shown not to follow the protocol and inform his superior, much to the mulling doubt of Byrne – resulting in multiple scenes of confrontation. The only issue remains on how bland the setting is, hardly creating a stir or even exuding of moments of tension that you would associate with such a drama. It just felt like a tasty dish being reheated and served to you, something that eventually becomes tasteless and bland. I mean – no amount of face-offs between Dumas and Byrne could salvage the drama, even when there was a hint that went too far while making the drama immensely predictable with the eventual reveal.
There is a brief emotional moment in play with each of the two principal characters wherein Byrne has lost his girlfriend, and Dumas has lost his young boy to cancer. However, these moments only play out only in isolation while never really tying up to the core narrative that tries hard to be a mystery. In a scene, you see seeds of doubt being sown in the minds of the viewers, even with respect to Desi (Sasha Calle) – the flat owner where the drama is staged wherein she overhears a character talking on the phone. Elsewhere, the doubts redirect to another character carrying a burner phone, or the fate of another character dictated by a shadowy figure with a gun. Or a full blown shootout sequence that ends sooner than a cup of maggie boiling in water. Come on folks, try harder next time!
It is kind of funny on how insipid the final reveal is too, wherein the foreshadowing technique is employed rather conveniently. As a result, it doesn’t come as a shocker by any stretch of imagination, neither are the stakes in the drama raised at any point. It is a classic film made on the algorithm of a platform that overrules every little creative speck of satisfaction. And it is also funny on how the drama carries on for a good 20 odd minutes after the reveal, while having nothing really to say other than a combat sequence that made me sigh with pain. But luckily, I had the 1.5x button at my disposal to fast-forward the clunky bouts of mediocrity. Had the drama been even mildly entertaining, I would have paused. But sadly, the drama is meh…just meh here!
Dialogues, Music & Direction
The dialogues are conversational, and the lines that are frequently repeated with dumps of information wish to convey on how intelligent they are. There is a rhythm and a sense of urgency fleshed out through the exchanges, which all makes sense given how slender the written material is. The BGM is ‘adequate’ while trying to elevate the drama and the combat sequences. But I wasn’t pumped or even remotely interested during some crucial sequences (owing to the ‘adequate’ background score), that made me wonder on whether the definition of ‘generic’ has also changed to ‘adequate’ for me. Something to ponder on…The cinematography is stylized with frames that actually do their bit in creating an ambience of intrigue. Be it the shaky handheld frames, or the sense of urgency-inducing camera work in combat sequences, there definitely felt a sense of purpose with the cinematography that somewhat salvaged a sinking ship.
The editing pattern is decent – keeping the drama crisp and sharp while maintaining the length of the drama to less than 2 hours. Director Joe Carnahan misses the mark here with a generic thriller that doesn’t land with its characters. The characterization is itself so weak that the seeds of doubts sown in the minds of the viewers are never quite substantial in any form, given how there is no contributing factor from the characters’ backstories as a reference. And from thereon to make the drama predictable, is another crime of its own – something that the director is guilty of. The direction never quite rises above the mediocrity of the written material.
Performances
The performances are decent whilst most actors suffer from the lack of characterization. Kyle Chandler as Nix is hardly impactful in the narrative. Catalina Sandino Moreno as Det. Salazar and Teyana Taylor as Det. Baptistie are alright, but they fall prey to some rather insipid characterization. Scott Adkins as Del Byrne is fairly decent to witness here. Sasha Celle as Desi is sincere and earnest while doing her bit to leave an impact on the narrative despite a lesser screentime. Steven Yeun as Det. Ro definitely leaves an impact, while putting his best foot forward in a character that you will judge from the start to the end. Ben Affleck as Det. Byrne and Matt Damon as Lt. Dumas do most of the heavylifting, and somewhere in the film you are witness to the dynamic duo turning the clock back. Both remain immensely watchable with commendable acts that would have had a higher degree of impact if the writing had been better. But that clearly wasn’t the case.
Conclusion
The Rip is a stash of mediocrity veiled as a middling thriller with snoozy results that fails to impress. Here is another drama that falls prey to the algorithm of the platform while coming across as convenient and cliched. Available on Netflix.