Ever notice that characters in Netflix original movies seem to reiterate the film’s plot over and over again? Or that they always seem to say out loud what they are doing or planning on doing? It turns out it’s intentional – and Matt Damon and Ben Affleck have just confirmed it.
For years it has been speculated that Netflix asks its hired screenwriters to cater to “casual viewers”, meaning those who are scrolling on their phones or performing other activities while watching. This, as suggested by journalist Will Tavlin in n+1 in 2025, is exemplified by characters who “announce what they’re doing so that viewers who have this programme on in the background can follow along”.
While Netflix has never officially commented on these rumours, the truth may have just been outed by Damon and Affleck, the stars of the new Netflix original film The Rip.
Making an appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast this week, and during a discussion about the evaporation of cinemas and the dominance of phone usage in public life, Damon said that The Rip had to abide by numerous Netflix storytelling rules.
“The standard way to make an action movie, we learnt [years ago], is you usually have three set pieces,” Damon explained. “One in the first act, one in the second, one in the third. You spend most of your money on that one in the third act. That’s your finale. And now [Netflix] are like, ‘Can we get a big one in the first five minutes? We want people to stay’.”
He continued, quoting Netflix: “‘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’. It’s really going to start to infringe on telling stories.”
Affleck then interjected, suggesting that not all Netflix storytelling follows said rules.
“But then you look at Adolescence and it didn’t do any of that s***,” Affleck said. “And it’s f***ing great.”
“That feels like more the exception though,” Damon added.
“My feeling is that it demonstrates that you don’t need to do any of that s***,” concluded Affleck.
Somewhat ironically, The Rip – which star the pair as members of a squad of Miami cops who stumble upon stolen cash – was described by The Independent’s film critic Clarisse Loughrey as a movie spoilt by some of these now-confirmed Netflix “rules”.
She wrote: “It’s a character piece that does very little with its characters, since it’s been afflicted with the Netflix curse of dialogue written exclusively for people who are busy scrolling on their phones.”
While on the promotional trail for the film, Damon also told Joe Rogan his thoughts on “cancel culture”, which left some raising eyebrows.
