Dwindling attentions and brain rot in this age of Instagram/TikTok is a real thing. It has severely affected audiences' movie-viewing habits. Matt Damon and Ben Affleck addressed this in the podcast hosted by Joe Rogan, as their latest Netflix feature, The Rip, began streaming on Friday.
Damon recalled how Netflix wanted an action sequence at the start of the movie and also required movie plots to be repeated by the characters, as people's attention spans are split between the movie they're watching and their phones.
“The standard way to make an action movie that we learned was, you usually have three set pieces. One in the first act, one in the second, one in the third,” Damon explained. “You spend most of your money on that one in the third act. That’s your finale. And now they’re like, ‘Can we get a big one in the first five minutes? We want people to stay. And it wouldn’t be terrible if you reiterated the plot three or four times in the dialogue because people are on their phones while they’re watching.’”
Affleck, however, pointed out that Netflix also make shows like Adolescence that didn't opt for the Netflix-suggested filmmaking approach.
“But then you look at ‘Adolescence,’ and it didn’t do any of that s***,” Affleck said. “And it’s f***** great. And it’s dark too. It’s tragic and intense. [It’s about] this guy who finds out his kid is accused of murder. There are long shots of the back of their heads. They get in the car, nobody says anything.”
The Rip sees childhood friends Ben Affleck and Matt Damon reuniting in front of the screen after 2023's AIR. Directed by Joe Carnahan, The Rip is a crime thriller centred on an incident involving a bunch of cops working in the Miami police department, whose loyalty and trust are tested after they discover millions in cash inside a derelict stash house.
The duo is also producing it under the banner of Artists Equity, their production studio that was launched in 2022.
Carnahan is known for being a specialist in the crime genre, with credits such as Narc, The Grey, and The A-Team.
Damon and Affleck are joined in the cast by Steven Yeun, Kyle Chandler, Teyana Taylor, Catalina Sandino Moreno, and Sasha Calle.