Ben Affleck runs for LA mayor as his son is kidnapped in first teaser for 'Animals'

Ben Affleck is running for mayor of Los Angeles and facing a nightmare at home in the first teaser for his upcoming thriller Animals.

Affleck stars as Mark Kimball, a mayoral candidate whose life is thrown into chaos when his young son is kidnapped. His wife, played by Kerry Washington, joins him as they scramble to raise the ransom and find their child while becoming caught in a dangerous web of deception.

The minute-long teaser contains no dialogue, instead using tense music and the persistent buzz of a vibrating phone to build suspense. It begins with Mark, his wife and an associate played by Steven Yeun appearing increasingly concerned before flashing back to Mark's mayoral campaign and his seemingly happy family life.

The footage then takes a darker turn. Mark receives a mysterious phone call outside a pool while Washington's character and Yeun's character look on anxiously. Other scenes show Washington and another woman, played by Adriana Paz, in distress, while a sleeping bag sits beside a pair of handcuffs.

Gillian Anderson also appears as a mysterious figure who arrives at Mark's home, seemingly playing a hostage negotiator or crisis specialist. The teaser offers another unsettling image of a person wearing a rabbit mask and holding a gun, while Mark is briefly seen through a rifle's crosshairs.

Animals marks Affleck's first directorial film since 2023's Air. He also stars alongside Washington, Anderson, Yeun, Ray Fisher, Adriana Paz, Matt Gerald, Jacob Estrada and Luis Gerardo Méndez.

The film reunites Affleck with Yeun following their work together on The Rip and with Fisher, who previously starred alongside him in Justice League.

Animals was originally set to star Affleck's longtime collaborator Matt Damon, but Damon exited the project because of scheduling conflicts with Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey.

Animals will be released on Netflix and in select theatres on October 9, 2026.