“This is a story about whether people have a real moral compass, or whether we just seek to do what’s in our best interests and then build a story that fits the moral compass we want others to believe we have,” Affleck tells Tudum. “It had this really tense thriller core where at every moment you want to see what happens next, and the challenge was whether you could hold the audience’s interest that intently.”
But beneath the fast-paced action and ticking clock is a story that dives under the surface. Washington recalls Affleck telling her that ultimately, Animals is about a marriage, which she thought was just a ploy to get her to sign on.
“I read the script and understood what he meant,” she says. “I saw how important the marriage dynamics are to what unfolds for this family.”
