"Humans are just animals who tell stories." That line comes midway through Animals, Ben Affleck's newest directorial effort. It's meant to make us think about how little separates a wild animal from us when our backs are up against the wall. However, by that point, the thematic weight of the film had already been lost on me, and I decided to focus on the literal question of whether animals do tell stories to each other. It turns out many species are sort of capable of doing that, such as bees performing dances to communicate information about flowers. If I were a film critic bee, my review for Animals would just be a half-frowned shoulder shrug.

For as much as it seems a bit narcissistic for Affleck to cede acting duties to his brother for his directorial debut, Gone Baby Gone, only to then give himself the lead or showiest supporting role in every subsequent directorial project, these films are often the best uses of his on-screen talent. Here, he plays Mark Kimball, a Los Angeles mayoral candidate who is a seemingly perfect man. He's a former soldier, teacher, and lawyer, using his responsibilities in the latter position to take on environmentally corrupt businesses. Up the hill in his mansion, he's got a beautiful psychologist wife, Abigail (Kerry Washington), and a young son, Denny.

Normally, we wouldn't have to wait long for all the pleasantness to be revealed as a façade. But that doesn't happen, with Affleck, as well as co-writers Billy Ray and Connor O. McIntyre, doubling down on Mark's idealism. His campaign is unaffiliated with the two major political parties, which means he's funding everything himself through exorbitant loans. At the moment, he is extremely cash-poor, hedging his family's entire financial future on the election. He also won't break the law to offer an under-the-table job to Ramon (Luis Gerardo Méndez), the husband of his maid Cecilia (Adriana Paz), as he entered the country illegally.

Of course, if you're not going to reveal that a man is already in the muck, you have to plunge him in there yourself. That moment comes when Denny is kidnapped while he's out trick-or-treating with Cecilia. Communicating through phone calls and apparently possessing all-seeing powers, the kidnappers demand $7 million in cash by morning. Not having that money on him, Mark and Abigail resort to desperate measures, which include borrowing from the mysteriously white-suited Dayle Burton (Gillian Anderson).

Taking place almost exclusively within Kimball's mansion, Affleck and his editors, William Goldenberg and Christopher Rouse, push everything at a frenzied pace. Storied cinematographer Robert Elswit follows the actors as their panic drives them from room to room, often within a single take. It's very showy work, with plenty of shouting and heightened speeches thrown in for good measure.

However, showy work isn't always a mark of quality work, as this all feels a little beneath the extremely talented cast and crew. Anderson controls every scene, instilling a sense of power through her hushed British accent and sleek appearance. It's too bad her character is thinly written, which is still infinitely deeper than the incredibly lame villains. Affleck clearly only needed them as an instigating force to examine the wide cracks that we intentionally avoid in our lives. But a villain still needs to be somewhat compelling, especially when they interrupt the proceedings so consistently.

Affleck recently revealed that he used AI "for lots of things" in this film, a not-so-surprising fact given that he sold his AI film-tech startup, InterPositive, to Netflix just a few months ago. He intentionally chose not to reveal exactly when and where AI was used, explaining that it would rob the illusion of a magic trick. Without possessing much of a trained eye for these things, I couldn't pinpoint the exact moments, save for maybe the embarrassingly conceived and staged final act.  For all the talk about AI being a savior, this still proves that it can't turn lead into gold.

Netflix will release Animals in select theaters and on its streaming service on October 09th.