The Rip (2026)

Starring: Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Steven Yeun, Teyana Taylor, Sasha Calle, Kyle Chandler, Scott Adkins, and Catalina Sandino Moreno
Grade: B+

Matty: “Everybody calm down. People are tired. It’s been a long fucking night.”

Dane: “Now, it’s about to get a lot longer.”

That’s an understatement. The Rip is a puzzle we do NOT see coming.

Summary

At the Miami-Dade Police Department, Major Thom Vallejo (Néstor Carbonell) speaks with Lt. Dane Dumars (Damon) privately in Thom’s office, asking how it went with the FBI. Dane doesn’t respond, so Thom asks if he spoke with their IA team. Dane confirms he has quite a few times. Though he’s not convinced, Thom questions if they found Dane’s alibi suitable. Dane just stares at him.

Going back a night, Captain Jackie Velez (Lina Esco) tells a woman over the phone that she is the only cop the woman can trust. The woman says she feels like she’s being watched and regrets calling her, but Jackie assures her this was the right thing to do. Jackie knows where the woman is at and is heading towards her. In addition, she says she’s using a burner phone, so no one is tracing the call. She just tells the woman to continue to do what “they” say. Jackie parks her car and tells the woman again to not trust anyone before hanging up. Once she walks across the parking lot, an unknown person wearing all black shoots Jackie. She takes cover in front of a car and immediately starts texting someone. Eventually, she’s cornered by the shooter and another person dressed in all black, and she’s shot a second time. This one sends her into the rocks by a body of water. Still, she’s somehow alive and uses her gun for cover fire. This gives her enough time to send the text. Once she tosses the phone into the river behind her, the shooter comes back over and kills her. The cops are seen in the distance, so the two men run away. Back in the present day with Dane in Thom’s office, Dane tells him how “they” killed Jackie. All he knows is that she was chasing a lot of money. Trying to level with him, Thom admits the division is falling apart. The FBI want TNT (Tactical Narcotics Team) dismantled. He can’t help but notice how what has happened has turned them into “cannibals”. As he says this, we see Det. Mike Ro (Yeun) meet in a private conference room with FBI Agents Del Byrne (Adkins) and Logan Casiano (Daisuke Tsuji). Del asks Ro how he would describe his relationship with Jackie. The same questioning from Del happens with Det. Numa Baptiste (Taylor) and Det. Lolo Salazar (Moreno). Numa was good friends with Jackie and assures Del that she was murdered. Lolo talks about much of a tragedy it is. Del brings up how Lolo previously described TNT as running the dope game, meaning they jump the holes, focus on seizures, drugs, guns, and mostly cash. It cuts to Ro, and he confirms this description as accurate.

Casiano asks if the cash part creates conflict. Ro knows he’s suggesting if they steal the cash and says no. Casiano questions if the thought has ever come across his mind. Switching back to Thom’s office, Dane mentions the inside heist teams, which Thom boils down to “cops playing robbers” and how they work with other corrupt law enforcements. Next, Det. Sgt. J.D. Byrne (Affleck) is in the conference room with the FBI Agents. After taking a drag from his cigarette, he jokingly asks when the last time they caught a cop killer in a conference room was. Next, he questions what their game is besides trying to “dirty up” some cops. Del replies that this is probably the easiest work to get in the city of Miami. J.D. can’t believe the FBI is suggesting someone in TNT killed Jackie, but Del plays coy and replies that he didn’t say that. J.D. starts going off about how they don’t have a leg to stand on. In Thom’s office, Dane questions where the task force is, considering a Miami police captain is dead. At the same time, J.D. tells the feds they blew it and they can’t catch a cop killer. Del quickly responds that this might be the case because the killer is a cop. Shaking his head, J.D. takes off his sweat jacket but refuses to put his cigarette out as he sits down. Del tells J.D. that they have interviewed Numa, Lolo, Ro, and J.D.’s current commander and guy who took his promotion in Dane. J.D. is quick to say that Dane deserved the bump, as much as anyone in the department. He questions if they know what Dane has been through involving his marriage and child. Casiano asks if they are close, and J.D. replies “Very”, which is why he doesn’t complain about Dane getting promoted. He works for a living just like J.D. does. Del half-heartedly agrees with him while looking at his phone. J.D. then adds that it was their bosses who helped bust up VCAT (Violent Criminal Apprehension Team). Del retorts that VCAT was shut down because of widespread and rampant criminal corruption. J.D. admits they weren’t straight “A” students, but they were superb as murder police.

Unfortunately, they torched VCAT, which further hamstrings Jackie’s investigation because “now all the VCAT guys, not just the bent ones, are buried fucking alive”. In Thom’s office, Dane asks if they are approving any overtime, but Thom says they aren’t because of the budget. Plus, it’s not a hill anyone is willing to die on. Thom also adds that VCAT being shut down has really hurt them. Pausing to take this all in, Dane requests to let them run it off hours. Thom immediately refuses this. If they got wind that TNT was conducting a clandestine investigation of their own captain’s murder, they’d be ruined. In the conference room, Casiano asks J.D. if he was close or in a relationship with Jackie, but J.D. doesn’t respond. Del starts talking shit, so J.D. calls him a cunt and doubles down, telling Casiano to write it down in his transcription. J.D. questions if they are there because they have the audacity to think Jackie was dirty. Right away, Del responds by asking if she was. Pissed off, J.D. tells Del to be careful. Del tells him, “Fuck you”, adding that he knows J.D. has a huge personal stake in this and they aren’t going to walk around it. As Del reveals everyone knows J.D. does, J.D. gets a quick flashback to being in bed with Jackie and her kissing him on the head. As J.D. sits silently, Del asks why he’s wearing a double shoulder rig, joking that it’s Wild West-like. He knows one of the guns is J.D.’s, but he wants to know who the other belongs to. J.D. gets another quick flashback of Jackie wearing it. Then, he puts his cigarette out in his drink and throws it at Del. They both get up and start fighting, with J.D. slamming Del against the window and onto the table. In Thom’s office, they see what’s happening, but Dane isn’t surprised, as J.D. and Del are brothers. The members of TNT get in the room and separate J.D. and Del, and Del yells at J.D., calling him a bully. With Thom, Dane tells him that Del is a fed, which is why things are tense with J.D. and him.

After this, Dane finds J.D. in the bathroom and jokingly asks how his conversation with Del went. J.D. is quick to talk about how Del is still an asshole and argues that he became a fed just to talk down to people. Dane wonders if Del was hoping for a confession, but J.D. isn’t sure. He does know that if the feds are there to look at them, they must have no idea what’s going on. J.D. is convinced Jackie is an afterthought at this point, but Dane doesn’t even give her that. He doesn’t think they are going to clear it. Dane says the FBI either think Jackie is dirty, or they had something to do with it. J.D. brings up the possibility of the FBI thinking both is true or they have no idea. Still, the easiest place to lay all of it on is a dirty cop. J.D. asks what “Thom with an ‘H” had to say, prompting Dane to solemnly respond that he’s not going to help since the grind has gotten to him. J.D. doesn’t understand the excuses because everyone has been working hard. If he were in charge, he’d shake things up to get some answers. Dane wholeheartedly agrees. If they were to make some type of movement on the subject matter, they could see who starts talking and who starts making mistakes. They consider this to be the most basic plan of action and get frustrated just talking about it. After they pause for a moment, Dane admits he hates it there and hates being a cop now. He’s been waking up every night thinking about time, specifically how much has passed and how much he has left. He’s not sure what he’s going to do with it. J.D. isn’t sure what to say. Getting a little emotional, he recalls what Jackie used to say that he used to make fun of in that “Well, just live to see another sunrise”. Now, he thinks about this being the key to life, seeing another sunrise. Dane jokes that Jackie believed in witches, and J.D. messes with him by replying that Dane is the problem with the culture of the police department today and how a lot of people believe in witches. Dane brings up how Jackie believed in spirit animals, and J.D. jokes that he used to like Dane’s spirit.

Outside, the members of TNT are hanging out and some of them are doing donuts in the parking lot with cars and bikes. After J.D. comments how they shouldn’t be acting like its high school, he sits down with Lolo, Ro, and Numa. Lolo jokes that she was going to bet on Del during J.D.’s fight with him, but they broke it up too fast. J.D. is quick to reply that it wouldn’t be the first bad bet she’s made. After Ro quotes Del when he called J.D. a bully, they all laugh. Changing the subject, Numa asks what’s going on with the cash. Ro wonders if it’s the stash house hits they’ve been hearing about, though Lolo is unaware of what he’s referring to. J.D. explains how it’s some bullshit about getting knocked over by cops and feds and money disappearing because of it. He considers heist teams to be an urban fantasy, joking that Ro should let him know if he runs into a big stash house. Meanwhile, Dane sees a text from an unknown caller about a stash house in Hialeah with big cartel money inside with the address of 23342 11th Avenue. Presumably, it’s from the burner phone Jackie used before her death. Dane lets his phone time out and sees the picture of his son on the lockscreen. Back outside, the DEA agents led by Matty Nix (Chandler) show up in a tank-like vehicle, and TNT is already clowning them for it. Matty comes over to greet an annoyed J.D. who wonders if the DEA has their own staging area, as they are always using their parking lot for his team. Matty counters with how he’s got overtime work for them, prompting J.D. to joke that Matty is the one knocking over the stash houses with Miami’s finest helping him. Matty argues that he’s DEA, so he is in fact Miami’s finest. He gets him back by telling J.D. to ask his crooked cops about it since he socializes with them. DEA Agent Dayo Reyes (Jose Pablo Cantillo) comes over to greet them, as TNT are much cooler with him than Matty. Numa thinks they’re trying to get rid of TNT entirely, but Matty doesn’t think this is the case, especially with how much media coverage the murder of Jackie will get. Dayo says if VCAT weren’t disbanded, an arrest would have happened by now.

Out of curiosity, J.D. asks what the DEA is doing for them, and Dayo admits they aren’t doing anything and they need to handle their own scandals. Matty adds that there are snitches in every division and jokes that they look a little snitchy. Just then, Dane walks out to greet Matty and everyone else. As the DEA checks out, Dane gets the attention of TNT. They got a Crimestopper tip come in. Lolo points out how they just got off for the day, but Dane presses on about how there is money in a house up in Hialeah and he wants to “rip it” because he doesn’t want to end the week with nothing. They aren’t getting overtime for it either. Dane is going regardless and leaves it up to them if they want to come. J.D. is down. The rest of the crew is annoyed but begrudgingly go with. Even so, Dane says he needs their money-sniffing dog Wilbur. In the parking lot, Dane guesses they are looking at around $250,000 once Numa asks. This is considered to be an easy rip. Considering the Hialeah area, Ro asks Dane if he wants to get local PD involved, but Dane is adamant they don’t because that entire department is upside down. Ro asks how much the rip is supposed to be, and Dane tells him that it’s $150,000. Once he asks if it’s a doper, Dane just shuts him down (“Detective, can you sense my patience fraying in real fucking time from these questions?”). During the drive over, we see Dane’s hand tattoos. His left hand says “A.W.T.G.G.” and his right hand says “W.A.A.W.B.”. TNT pulls up in all of their individual vehicles to the address. As Lolo comments how the neighborhood looks abandoned, J.D. asks what they tell the house owner. Dane replies that they need to lie and get them to sign a consent to search for dope instead of money. J.D. wonders what will happen if they don’t sign because it is in fact a dope house. Dane just says it will be considered a protective search, and they clear the place anyway. Lolo walks her dog Wilbur up to the house, and he’s barking nonstop and pisses on the house. Lolo tells Dane that she has never seen Wilbur this crazy before. She asks Dane how much the house is holding, and Dane tells her only $75,000. She considers this impossible since Wilbur is pissing all over the house.

She knows there has to be more than that. Dane knocks on the door, and Desi Lopez (Calle) answers. Acting as Miami PD, Dane mentions how they got a Crimestopper tip on her address about possible narcotics on the premise. J.D. interrupts to say they are usually pretty reliable, so they have to follow up with them. He asks her for her name, and she says it’s “Desi”. He jokes that this is her “rock star” name and wants her full legal name, so she admits it’s Desiree Lopez Molina. J.D. wants to see her identification, but it’s inside. Once she confirms she’s the only one at the house, Dane asks if they can come inside. She questions if they have a warrant, so Dane brings up the consent to search form. She demands to know the difference, prompting Dane to say they don’t need a judge to sign and approve a consent to search. Desi realizes she can say no and wonders what he will do then. Dane calls her bluff and says she would have to do so first. Desi replies that she doesn’t have any drugs but maybe some weed. Dane says she doesn’t have to worry about that, and J.D. encourages her to sign the paper because they will be in and out, as they want to go home too. She warns them to not do the “pushy cop” act, and they assure her they won’t. With this, Desi signs the paper, and Dane leads them inside aggressively with their guns drawn. Desi realizes she messed up. As Lolo lets Wilbur off his leash and the dog goes directly to a spot in the upstairs area, Dane and J.D. go into a different room while Dane asks Desi if there is anyone else in the house and how the last thing she should do is lie to them. Desi is sure she is the only one. Dane and J.D. go to where Wilbur is and see the attic he’s barking at. While Lolo puts Wilbur back on his leash, Desi insists she doesn’t know what’s up there and she doesn’t have any drugs. This is where J.D. reveals to her that the dog alerts for money, not drugs. Desi wants her warrant now, but Dane explains that they don’t need a warrant anymore because the dog alerted to something, which is probable cause.

Once she confirms that there is no one in the attic, J.D. opens and pulls down the ladder for Dane to go up and for him to follow. Strangely enough, Dane and J.D. find a completely clean attic with a small altar at the other end of it. Dane asks why it’s so clean, but Desi says she doesn’t know because she’s never been up there. It’s weird because the rest of her house looks like a landfill and this part is spotless, as J.D. points out. Desi argues that it was worse before she started cleaning it up. Her grandmother never threw anything away. J.D. spots an electrical wire sticking out of the wall, so he pulls on it. It opens a compartment behind a small religious figurine, and the two look inside the compartment to see large orange buckets inside of it. As the two send the others to go up and break the wall open with a sledgehammer, Dane and J.D. question Desi on things. Here, she says she’s been living there for two months, her grandmother passed away in June, and she was taking care of her the last two years by herself. Desi is unemployed at the moment, but the house is in probate, as she’s fighting her sister for it. Her sister didn’t help their grandmother at all but is now contesting her will. While Lolo interrupts to say the rest of the house is clear, Dane gives Desi one last chance to tell them anything before they get behind the wall in the attic. Desi still doubles down that she has no idea what’s up there and swears on everything she loves. Neither believes her, with J.D. noting the look on her face when he told her the dog alerts for money. He asks what she thinks is behind the wall, but Desi just points out the obvious in that they are the ones who brought the dog that alerts for money, so they know more than she does. Dane brings up how there is a Columbian flag hanging over the fireplace and they are cops, so it takes the mystery out of who the money might belong to. Desi considers this a small-minded approach and argues that not all Columbians are the same, but Dane is quick to reply they are aware. J.D. jokes that they have great cocaine and in fact all the coke in the entire United States.

Desi argues they have great food too. J.D. agrees with her but points out how they don’t hide it in the wall. Desi notes how all cops have the same look on their face, trying to make people feel as if they did something wrong. Dane asks if she did, but she is still adamant she hasn’t. J.D. tells her that the receipt of stolen property, knowingly or unknowingly, including cash, does actually constitute doing something very seriously wrong. Dane adds that not seeing a crime doesn’t exonerate her from its commission, with J.D. commenting how this is especially true if it’s in her house. Desi stumps them however by noting how it’s not her home. It’s her grandmother’s, reminding them that it’s still in probate. Dane smirks and admits this was slick. J.D. asks who gave her this loophole. With this, Desi talks about they love to lecture, moralize, make better decisions, live a more honest life, and to leave things in God’s hands. However, God isn’t there to make the mortgage, bills, or funeral costs. She asks if they can trade all that advice, prayer, and good intention for cash. Defeated, Dane says he guesses not. Desi sees Dane’s hand tattoos and asks what “A.W.T.G.G” means, so he reveals that it’s “Are we the good guys?”. She smirks and asks if he needs validation that he’s a good guy. As Dane stares at her, she apologizes right after. Next, she asks what “W.A.A.W.B.” means to which Dane replies, “We are and always will be”. Dane and J.D. have Lolo watch Desi, and they go into the attic once Ro tells the two it’s something big. Behind the wall are several orange buckets. They open one and find a huge package of money, and it’s labeled $150,000. Dane takes one package out, and the next package is labeled $350,000. The next is labeled $400,000. In just this bucket alone, there’s $1.4 million. J.D. looks at the wall and says there might be 14 more buckets in there. They could be looking at a $20 million rip. They have never seen anything like this before. As Dane tries to think about what to do, J.D. has Ro and Numa wait downstairs so he can speak to Dane privately. Dane requests everyone give up their phones because he doesn’t want anyone calling.

Numa questions if he doesn’t trust them, but he replies that he doesn’t trust the rip since money like this does messed up things. He gets everyone’s phones including Desi’s. Once J.D. and Dane are in private in the attic, J.D. asks if he wants his phone too, but Dane doesn’t. He just wants J.D. to help him figure this out. J.D. counters with how he doesn’t think they should undermine the trust of their team, but Dane isn’t worried about offending the team. It’s about trust. With this, J.D. asks how much was the tip that came in. Dane reveals that the Crimestopper tip said $300,000. The two realize they are in a lot of trouble. The two rejoin the team, and Dane starts directing everyone. He wants the rest of the containers out of the wall because they have to prep a count immediately, and he wants Ro to help Numa take them into the garage because the house is all drywall and plaster. The reason this is important because it’s harder for a bullet to travel through the cinder block making up the garage, as he’s expecting some upcoming trouble. J.D. takes Dane aside and says they have to move the money, but Dane reminds him that the rules state they have to count the money at the site of the seizure. It’s the law. J.D. doesn’t think this applies to a cubic ton of cash, but Dane is sure IA will be all over them if they mess up the count by a single dollar. He refuses to not follow procedure in this moment. They have to count the money there. J.D. says they have to call Thom. Neither want to involve him, but J.D. notes that if they are following protocol, they can’t pick and choose. Dane asks if he trusts their command center, and J.D. is quick to say, “Not particularly”. This is why Dane doesn’t want to risk it. J.D. reveals that Jackie told him that she was made aware of a big rip that was out there, and he thinks this is the one she was referring to. Dane doesn’t know. All he does know is that what they do right now and who they talk to matters. Lolo interrupts to say she missed visiting her daughters and wants to FaceTime them good night. Dane does not want to hear it right now, but Lolo pleads with him because this is the type of stuff her ex gets on her for.

Though apologetic, Dane refuses because of the situation they are in. J.D. takes Dane aside again and suggests calling Del. Dane can’t believe this since J.D. just got into a fistfight with him earlier. He also refuses the suggestion of Matty. Dane reminds J.D. that he’s in charge, and they get into a mini argument over the matter because J.D. doesn’t know what Dane is doing. Desi interrupts to tell them they are making a big mistake, and they should take whatever money they want and to walk away before this gets bad for all of them. Ro lets them know a cop car is coming down the street, so Dane relays to stay off the radios and for no call-outs to be made. He also has Lolo help the others get the containers to the garage. Dane and J.D. go outside, and Officers Junger (Cliff Chamberlain) and Warwick (Alex Hernandez) pull up to see what’s going on. Once Dane says they are TNT and for them to turn off their light bar, Warwick only slowly does so, as he’s clearly suspicious of them. He says they didn’t get a heads up about this, and Dane confirms this. J.D. says the reason they didn’t tell them is because they are Hialeah PD. Junger tries to get snippy with J.D., so Dane points out how he’s a lieutenant and outclasses the measly patrolman. J.D. comments how they can’t afford what they “charge” to keep a secret, implying their department’s known corruption. Warwick acknowledges they outrank him, but he says he’s still going to call his chief to complain about them. Just then, J.D. realizes he recognizes Junger and questions where he knows him from. Junger replies that he’s never seen him before, and they drive off. Right after, J.D. tells Dane that Junger was a VCAT cop. Dane isn’t sure because half of the VCAT guys got suspended, and the other half were fired. Though J.D. concedes this, he also knows some were reassigned. Dane doesn’t think anyone would keep their job after the VCAT disaster, but J.D. points out how the police unions tend to pull strings.

Dane wonders if they knew what was there, but J.D. doesn’t think so because they would be dead already if so. Still, they know an attack is looming, so they go back inside to prepare everyone with vests and rifles. J.D. reminds him of Jackie’s quote to live to see another sunrise, and Dane replies that this is sage advice considering their situation. J.D. gets to the car to grab his vest and gets a flashback of Jackie putting hers on. As Lolo and Numa move the containers into the garage, Lolo questions why they took their phones and wonders if they don’t trust them. Numa messes with her and says she’s just worried about her sidepiece boyfriend that she didn’t know they knew about. At the same time, Desi is pissed off and yelling because she’s handcuffed to a chair. In the garage, Lolo laughs at Numa’s jokes but says she just wanted to talk to her kids. As they find some old phone books and a station wagon, Ro interrupts to ask what they’re doing. They remind him they are supposed to count the seizures on site. Ro knows this. He’s talking about not contacting command and not radioing in. Numa doesn’t understand the issue because they do this all the time, but Ro says Jackie would not have handled things this way. This is too big to be going about it in this manner. She tries to quell his concerns, but he doesn’t want to hear it. He notes the fiber glass door in the garage, so he wants to move the station wagon in front of it for more cover. Dane and J.D. enter and tell everyone to get their guns and vests ready. Lolo realizes the Hialeah cops must have scared the shit out of them. After Dane tells Ro his station wagon plan is a good idea, he goes over to Lolo to say that everything about the phones is precaution, not panic. Once she accepts his explanation, J.D. tells Ro to go out front to keep an eye out, and they will move the car. As they get ready to count the money, Dane finds a TEC-9 in one bucket along with the money. He comments how this will be a weapons charge for Desi, and she says “Fuck this” from the other room.

To save time, Dane says if a package is labeled “250k” they leave it and take their word for it. If it’s messed up and there is no label, they count it. Otherwise, they will be there for two days. He then jokes how much easier it would be if they just stole the money, and J.D. looks at him suspiciously. Outside, Ro texts the Chief with a message, “JACKPOT $$$. NOT CALLING COMMAND. MIGHT BE DIRTY”. As the others move the car in the garage, Dane is with Desi in the kitchen, and she admits that she gets a call to leave the house for a few hours and does so. The caller never ID’s themselves, she doesn’t ask, and she’s never seen them. Dane questions what she meant earlier about taking whatever they wanted and walking away. Desi reveals that’s what they told her to say. It may not have meant take all of it, but these people knew they were going to take their losses, so whatever money the cops took wouldn’t amount to much for them. Taking a look at his iPad to see Desi’s file, Dane lays his phone on the table, and she sees his lockscreen of his son. She asks who it is and he tells her but puts his phone away right after. Looking at her file, he sees she has a “snitch jacket”, meaning they redlined the report, so it’s hidden. She admits it’s because of her ex-boyfriend. He sold drugs and stole money, so she worked with the cops on it. When J.D. walks in, Dane shows him the file, and he gets tough on her and asks if she’s a snitch. He sarcastically questions if somebody came by the house and left a business card. She counters by asking if that’s what the file says, but he’s not having it. He realizes she either knew how hot the place was and wanted help, or she was diming out the stash to make some money. Dane points out how a CI on a seizure in the state of Florida can claim up to 20%, so he wonders if that is what’s happening. A girl can get rich snitching in South Florida. J.D. brings up how her grandmother died and a couple of guys from the cartels show up to put $20 million in the attic and suggests she didn’t have a choice because it’s not like she could face off against them.

Then, the phone rings. Desi tells them not to answer it, but J.D. does and a disguised voice on the other line tells him they have 30 minutes to get out of the house, to take the money that was supposed to be there, and leave (“No one needs to die over 150k”). J.D. relays the message and takes Dane to the side to talk in private while a frightened Desi shouts to listen to them because they are going to come in and kill everyone. In the other room, J.D. brings up how Dane said that the Crimestopper tip was for about $300,000, but the guy on the phone said it was for $150,000. Now, he wants to know why Dane told him it was twice that. Dane is offended already at what he’s implying and says this is his crime scene, but J.D. responds that Dane’s not running shit if he’s going to torch what’s left of his career. He even threatens to go home. Desi can hear their argument from the other room. Finally, Dane questions if J.D. is suggesting Dane wants to jack the rip. J.D. isn’t sure, but he knows Dane has not been himself since they got there. He reminds him what Jackie said to him and points out how Dane has been lying to him and holding shit back. He’s known Dane too long, so he knows he’s right. Again, he demands to know what’s going on. He wants to see the Crimestopper tip, prompting Dane to joke, “Just the tip?”, which is the last thing J.D. wants to hear right now (“Motherfucker, I am so far from seeing the fucking humor in this!”). He yells about how he doesn’t trust Dane in this moment and that’s a problem. He wants to see the tip he got, but Dane just asks why. J.D. wonders what he has to hide. Dane then replies that he doesn’t have it on him, so J.D. demands Dane call Thom or he will. After J.D. leaves the room, Dane looks at the tip from his phone, confirming it was the one Jackie texted to him before tossing the phone into the river. While Lolo and Numa count the money in the garage, Lolo jokingly asks her if the cartel would give her a loan and Numa responds that they are pretty cool about loaning money to cops.

Getting a little serious, Lolo says she takes home $80,000 a year after taxes. For that, she gets shot at, insulted, and everything under the sun. She then grabs a stack and asks Numa what she would do with it. She simply replies, “Everything”. Lolo admits a stack like that would make her life so much easier to live. As the DEA makes an arrest, Matty gets a call from J.D., and he tells Matty how serious of a situation they are in. He talks about how they had a Crimestopper tip after closing, they ran it, and now he’s stuck in Hialeah with a rip consisting of more money than they can count. He’s also worried about Dane because he’s not doing stuff right and hasn’t called it in yet. He asks Matty if he’s heard anything about Dane, but all Matty has heard is that he’s got a full head of steam for solving Jackie’s murder. J.D. says they all do and how close they were. Matty outs J.D. for having a relationship with Jackie since it was the world’s worst kept secret and points out how J.D. lost his promotion to Dane. J.D. knows this wasn’t personal, but Matty doesn’t think it’s as easy as that because it’s not how Jackie did stuff. Matty doesn’t buy it and brings up the possibility of Jackie working the stash house they are in and Dane finding out about it. J.D. concedes it’s possible, so Matty asks him if the size of the rip is worth the price of a Miami police captain, resulting in J.D. getting a flashback of Jackie. J.D. knows Dane didn’t kill Jackie, but Matty counters with how broke Dane is, he’s in medical debt, his son is gone, his marriage imploded, and they both know he’s “been on the mend mentally for more than a minute”. J.D. argues that he would be too if his 10-year-old son died of cancer like Dane’s did. Matty agrees but also notes how it would certainly fuck up Dane’s frame of mind. As they are talking, Dane looks at his son on his lockscreen again somewhere in the house. Matty tells J.D. that Dane is a man that will never truly recover, so they can never truly trust him. What do you have to lose after you’ve lost everything?

Realizing he has a point, J.D. is about to call Del, but Matty tells him not to get the FBI involved. Since he’s wrapping up his bust, Matty promises to make his way over there and he will text him in 10 minutes. He tells J.D. to watch his back before hanging up. Inside the house, Dane goes into the garage but doesn’t completely close the door. Because of this, Desi can still hear their private conversation. Nevertheless, Dane approaches Lolo and Numa about their situation. Since they’re all thinking it, he finally brings up the idea of potentially stealing the rip.

The line has been blurred and trust has been severed. Somebody is not who they say they are.

My Thoughts:

On the surface, The Rip may seem like a regular Netflix action movie based off of recent fare the streaming service has released, but audiences should know by now that they are always in for a treat anytime Matt Damon and Ben Affleck decide to team up onscreen in some capacity. Those two don’t just sign up for any random project to work together. They do it because they see potential for something good, and this is exactly what the South Florida based story is. A well-written thrill ride with fiery performances, a great deal of intensity and suspense to maintain the rising action of the narrative, and plenty of twists and turns to keep the viewer guessing, The Rip is one of the better Netflix originals of the last five years.

Director and writer Joe Carnahan (The A-Team, The Grey, Smokin’ Aces) gets right back into the driver’s seat for another action film. Though traces of archetypes and basic cop movie clichés are seen from time to time as some are just unavoidable, Carnahan’s increased filmmaking and storytelling experience over the years are as present as ever, as his screenplay utilizes these genre expectations in smart and engaging ways to create a refreshing new story while maintaining what viewers like to see out of a big-budgeted action thriller. Of course, a major part of this outside of the writing and directing itself is the movie-carrying duo of Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. Everyone knows how good of friends they are in real life, so casting them as the two best friend cops in The Rip was probably the easiest decision to make from a casting standpoint. It practically ensured the film was going to be a good watch at the very least, regardless of what the rest of the feature turned out to be. Right from the outset, we are drawn in with vague details about a murder, the flashback of team leader Jackie being killed right after she sent a final text, and all the members of TNT being questioned about what happened and the possibility of Jackie being corrupt. Damon is great as the centerpiece in the newly promoted Dane, someone who settles in as a walking question mark once the story takes shape after he tells his team three individual pricing ranges for the rip before they leave the parking lot. It’s intriguing how they build to his questionable status because with the opening of the movie, there is no reason to believe Dane is anything but who he says he is. He is clearly an experienced and world-weary cop who is stressed out over his life and career and is furious with the police department for being so slow to do anything regarding Jackie’s death. It’s not that he had a relationship with her like his best friend J.D. did, but they were close friends, as everyone on TNT was. Coupled with Dane’s personal problems such as his 10-year-old son dying of cancer and his marriage falling apart, Jackie’s death adding to it all is what makes things that much more difficult for him and why he’s inspired to do something more than anyone else on the team.

Living with all of these issues every day and then his friend being murdered would understandably throw his mental state off, something Matty is definitely right about when he suggests the possibility of Dane being corrupt to J.D., as desperation could hypothetically follow. As the newly appointed leader of the team in Dane, he sees the lack of action over Jackie’s death as a major injustice, with bureaucracy seemingly overtaking the importance of a dead Miami police captain. Besides this, there’s a maddening number of times where it’s established by different people that there is no overtime available due to budget cuts, which a viewer may think is a convenient stretch for the story’s sake but is in fact annoyingly realistic in these types of careers. In the bathroom scene, Dane and J.D. talk privately and cannot believe how little is being done when the next step seems obvious and simple. The angry J.D. talks about shaking things up and doing something scary enough to see how everyone around them reacts, and it’s enough for the level-headed Dane to come up with something on his own, as he will not take Jackie’s murder lying down. No, this is the last straw. He can’t let her die in vain. This is where it gets interesting, and where Matt Damon turns a normal, revenge-fueled protagonist into a complex cop who keeps the viewer guessing at every turn. Due to audiences indulging in so many average thrillers with similar premises, Joe Carnahan uses this basis against the casual viewer to lead them to believe they know who Dane is through and through while letting them almost get bored because they have a sense that they can predict where the story is headed. Then, Carnahan’s screenplay, and Damon’s Dane flip it on them to make them realize nothing is as it seems. It’s fantastically done, especially if a viewer goes in with low, mind-numbing expectations based off some of the basic action movies Netflix usually tends to release. It’s all about the performances leveling up the production.

The anxiety is palpable upon the rip itself once Dane and J.D. react to seeing the biggest find of their entire careers. It’s not a cause for celebration, and they know it. If anything, they’d prefer something similar to what they usually get. Finding a haul worth $20 million means BIG time killers are involved in it. This isn’t something that makes a career. This is a haul that ends lives if it’s messed with. THAT is the type of energy Dane and J.D. give off in the moment, which is why they have to talk in private over what to do. Despite being the leaders and most experienced of the team, even they are freaking out over what the next step is as they know the stakes are life-threatening and something they have never faced before. All of this is felt through performance and dialogue. No gun needs to be fired yet to feel these thrills, and it’s refreshing to watch unfold and to be pulled into the direction Damon and Ben Affleck take the story. Adding to it is the goosebumps-inducing scene where the time clock they are on is never more evident when Ro and Mike are outside in the quiet, car-less neighborhood. Once Ro points out the light flickering at a random house looking like a pattern, J.D. realizes it’s Morse Code and reads it out loud as “P-I-G-S”. His expression on those last two letters sends shivers down the spine, as everyone is aware they are in SERIOUS danger now. Ro was right that the cartels have been buying up the housing blocks. Still, with the clock running and the fear and doubts rising, an invigorating mystery begins to take place at the same time. They still have to count and separate the money on Dane’s call, but he throws the monkey wrench into the pool by initiating the idea of jacking the rip and not calling the situation in to command. What the viewer thought was true and practically expected is now completely and compellingly up in the air. With J.D.’s increasing distrust of the situation and Dane’s defensiveness and lack of explanation to him or the team, everyone begins pointing fingers trying to win the guessing game and it transfers to the audience, generating a thrill ride of a plot before any action sequences take place.

It’s carried entirely on the backs of Affleck and Damon who take the material to another level, which is something not a lot of action stars can do consistently. Thankfully, the two approach the roles as a character-driven story rather than a straight action movie, and this approach is what sets The Rip apart from its competition in the field. Because we’re so invested in the layers of the narrative and their performances having us hang onto every word, the fact that there isn’t much action until the stretched-out grand finale of the third act goes relatively unnoticed. Before this, there’s some gunfire and a fistfight between J.D. and Dane where Ro has to separate them, but it’s nothing substantial until the awesome, shadowy, TENSE, four-shot revelation scene inside the Lenco. Without detailing spoilers because this is a movie whose entertainment value relies solely on the twisty narrative, it’s the best scene in the film and turns out to be where the underlying genius of Carnahan’s screenplay comes in full display for everyone to see. There is a reason for everything. It creeps into Rian Johnson territory and is acted to perfection by the stars all whilst every detail is accounted for, it’s convincing from every angle, and the responses and thought processes are totally within the characterization of each person. Nothing was a reach. It all comes together like clockwork, and the flashback explanations aren’t egregious or unbelievable. It’s not a mystery that leaves you shaking your head and saying, “No way!”. It’s all tied together and impressively thought out. No viewer walks out of the experience scoffing and thinking there’s no way any of it could happen. Its structure is completely mapped out for the long haul, and the payoff is strong, convincing, and wholly gripping. Really, the appreciation isn’t felt until it’s over because you don’t expect it to get as good as it does at its peak. All of it leads to a guns-blazing climax with a shootout, a car chase, an on-foot chase that leads to an awesome fistfight in a marsh, and J.D. no-look loading and shooting a machine gun out the window of Del’s car and following it up with the blasting of a shotgun that leads to a badass crash off a bridge.

So, the bulk of the narrative and character interactions may take place within a house, but don’t let this fool you. It’s all by design, as The Rip maintains its pace throughout while getting to know the personalities of everyone involved and why this is a big deal, and it all leads to the chaos audiences are expecting. Just be patient. It’s worth it.

Just like he did in The Last Duel alongside Damon, Ben Affleck steals the show upon his introduction as the cool but ironically hot-tempered second-in-command who’s willing to fight the bad guys at the drop of the hat, whether that be criminals, Dane, or his own brother. As soon as the movie introduces J.D. Byrne, the troubled former lover of Jackie and emotional leader of TNT, his presence just owns the screen. Affleck’s confidence as an actor since 2010’s The Town has been present in every production he’s been in since, and that doesn’t stop here, as he’s the most entertaining part of The Rip. His intensity, his subtle reactions to Dane’s responses and comments, and his delivery in their arguments puts you on the edge of your seat. He’s engaging from start to finish, and the chemistry he has with not only Damon but playing off of Kyle Chandler, Yeun, and the rest of the main cast while intimidating the young Sasha Calle’s Desi was absolute gold. Acting alongside Damon brings out the best in Affleck. Maybe, the competition involved in co-starring with a heavyweight like his best friend lights a fire underneath him. When Dane brings up how J.D.’s FBI brother keeps on questioning him as a “gotcha” moment in front of the team, watch as Affleck’s J.D. fires back with fury retorting, “That is the weakest shit I’ve ever heard, so let me put my fucking foot through it right now, so when we’re all getting deposed, you remember this fucking moment!”. Simply put, it’s AWESOME. Every line spoken or yelled at is delivered with J.D.’s personal attachments to the characters in mind, and Affleck reminds everyone how good of an action hero he can be when it comes to go to war, an underrated quality of his. J.D. is equally as complex as Dane is, but Affleck doesn’t falter under the pressure for a second. It wouldn’t have been the same without him either, as his casting as the cop with the temper and love troubles is hilariously on the nose and adds more to the character just because he’s involved (“Alright, stop fucking around. I know you got beer around here somewhere”).

Truthfully, both men are talented enough to have had their roles swapped, but we’re glad it was casted as it was. Where Affleck brings the fire, Matt Damon does a great job at being the nuanced lead and pulling off a masterfully underrated performance alongside him while internalizing Dane’s grief and intrigue in a trickly written role. His subtle intimidation tactics like in his interactions with Ro were phenomenal like when Dane finds Ro in the garage, and Ro says he came in to tell him that J.D. was going alone into the house. The rageful pause before Dane states, “Why don’t we take a walk, and you show me” makes the heart drop because the audience comes to realize they don’t know what the hell is going on in his head (“No, not nothing. That was a discussion”). Just his making eye contact with Desi following or predating his engaging in shifty activities bring about anxious feelings. Even when Dane baits by throwing suspicions on J.D., he’s cogent, at least to the others (“What about you? The fucking ex-VCAT detective that you recognized? Shit started to get real weird after that guy showed up”). When J.D. can’t believe he’s accusing him of “lying in the cut with that fucking cunt” and Dane points out how he was gone for 30 minutes and somehow came out with an armed cartel lookout, you stop making conclusions in your head and just watch the back and forth with full focus, fully accepting that you’re not sure how this will turn out. It’s a joy to finally let the characters handle the solution instead of getting bored and trying to figure it out as you go. That is a testament to the film’s writing.

Dane and Ro chasing the shooters on foot through the neighborhood was excellently done with how it was shot, but things cooling down and J.D. reentering the frame to explain that the cartel surprisingly isn’t their problem was crazy. Who would have thought that one of the bigger plot developments would revolve around a FaceTime entirely in Spanish with English captions? Another underrated moment of the movie came right after Dane’s fight with J.D. when Dane directs Ro to sit with Desi to make sure she doesn’t move. When Ro questions if they are arresting her, Dane’s reply of “The fuck did I just say?” to the point where Numa has to hold him back while he continues yelling “When the fuck did you hear the word “arrest” detective?” will have you cackling, as did Dane’s use of a vertical suplex in the climactic fistfight. Also, without revealing too much, that reminder that J.D. is on speakerphone was a fantastic moment to lead into the action.

With the supporting cast, Sasha Calle was a solid addition, but her character switching from novice, to liar, to cocky, to scared innocent women was wildly inconsistent. Had they stuck to something, the ending of Desi’s arc would have felt more earned. However, there are slappable moments like her screaming for help in the middle of the garage shootout while the dog is barking non-fucking-stop, and Lolo is shot in the leg and Numa is trying to deal it. Trying to throw her a bone, Numa goes over to take the handcuffs of her, but Desi has the audacity to get smart in the moment by commenting how she knows what they are up to. Is this really the time? They are literally being shot at it! On the other hand, Scott Adkins getting cast as Affleck’s dickish FBI agent brother wasn’t bad, and Steven Yeun’s Ro was a layered performance that aided the energy of the twisty narrative. Teyana Taylor as a cop felt miscast and Catalina Sandino Moreno’s Lolo didn’t do anything noteworthy. She was just there to bring the annoying barking dog around, which goes on for much longer than its needed. Though the dog’s reactions to everything are painfully realistic, it makes you want to yell at the screen for it to shut the fuck up. Not everything is perfect regarding certain details either. Some moments stuck out as questionable even in the midst of the action. For instance, J.D. checking out the house alone when it’s practically confirmed that it’s own by the cartel is a gamble no one is making in that moment in time. J.D. in the silent house with his rifle but stopping on the stairs to check his phone for Matty’s text is also a crazy risk considering literally anyone could have been in that house ready to kill him. On top of that, if TNT were to only secure 150k-300k, why do they have to waste time counting the rest of the money if they planned on stealing it? All they have to do is just take the small amount of money from the Crimestopper tip, right? Are we missing something here?

How they split Dane and J.D.’s interactions with the villains at the tail end of the climax and showed how they mirrored each other was a cool way to finish off the action, with the cherry on the top being the quick switch from J.D.’s shot to Jackie and back. Letting J.D. have this closure was a nice way to do it. Even if Dane was the main character, this was the correct way to go based off how much is known about both men and their respective journeys. With the epilogue, it’s true that there are likely thousands of movies that end with a beach scene after a hard day’s work, but after we delve into all the world building of The Rip and get invested in what happened, these characters, their lives, and how much Jackie meant to them, there is something so serene about that final shot. It was closure personified. It made her basic quote about living to see another sunrise a heartwarming one that stays with you well after the film ends. That indeed was “one solid rip”. Lastly, the payoff of remembering the money count was unexpectedly satisfying too, as it just further validates that this group are the right people for the jobs.

Are they the good guys? They are and always will be. Shoutout to Dane’s son.

Tensions rise to a fever pitch, and when Dane is vague about J.D.’s whereabouts before he yells at Ro to stay off the fucking radio before the garage is shot up, all hands are on deck, and its balls to the wall. You may think you know what you’re getting into, but you don’t. The Rip is a well-written, character-driven action film that wins over the audience by fully entrenching them into the lives of the principal characters, their jobs, and why this is a big deal. In the middle of it all, the screenplay baits, switches, and throws red herrings all over to keep the audience guessing to trigger arguments, tense conversations, accusations, and life-threatening circumstances. Magnified by the electric duo of Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, The Rip is an intelligent action thriller with a lower kill count than expected but strong enough details in its plot, entertainment value in how it’s handled by director Joe Carnahan, and its general storytelling all overcome its missteps to tie things with a bow and take the audience out on a sweet high note.