The Rip (2026)
Iâve always been a fan of Joe Carnahanâs work since his short film Ticker that was a part of the BMW The Hire (2003) series. Carnahanâs films are not masterpieces, but they are visually striking and very entertaining. His films are usually built around characters that eoncompass the testosterone soaked macho male ego.
The Rip does not stray from his style. As the movie opens, we witness violence against a law enforcement officer. We then follow TNT (Tactical Narcotics Team) led by Dane Dumars (Matt Damons). TNT also has onboard JD Byrne (Ben Affleck), Mike Ro (Steven Yuen), Numa Baptiste (Teyana Taylor) and Lolo Salazar (Catalina Sandino Moreno). They get a crime watch alert about a large stash of drug money at a house which has one occupant, Desi Lopez Molina (Sasha Calle). The movie becomes a tense exploration of how greed is the root of all evil.
The Rip is suspenseful and contains quite a few twists -- one that I was proud to have figured out. Joe Carnahan's script, based on a story by him and Michael McGrale is well written with character that are intrguing and motivations that develop thorughout the movie. The script leaves breadcrumbs and hints throughout the runtime that get satisfactorily tied up at the end.
I'm usually not a fan of the shaky camera, but Carnahan employs it in The Rip and uses it effectively. The movie itself looks fantastic, dark, foggy and moody. The action is sparse, but sharp when it happens. I am very impressed by the sound design also.
The movie is not perfect. I liked that most of the movie is built from the tense interactions between the TNT members and left me trying to figure out who was dirty and who was good. While I liked the action pieces in the movie, the high energy ending was over-the-top and did not fit well with the rest of the movie.
I recommend The Rip. Carnahan puts together a fantastic film. It is always great to see Matt Damon and Ben Affleck on screen together.
Rated 7 out of 10.
Streamed on Netflix.
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