Original Coverage & Source Attribution: www.cbr.com
Netflix’s latest original crime thriller film is absolutely crushing the competition. Animals, starring Ben Affleck and Kerry Washington, once again reigns supreme on the Nielsen viewing charts.
The Nielsen data from the week of Oct. 12 and 18 reveals that Animals absolutely crushed all other films on all streaming platforms. It came in at #1 with 756 million minutes watched, a whopping 2.7x more than second place — Disney’s Toy Story 5 with 274 million minutes watched. It was far from being a close race, and it shows one impressive feat for the Netflix thriller: it’s widening the gap considerably and continuing to hold firm. Animals has been performing well on streaming since its release on Oct. 9, but its continued domination is only getting stronger.
Netflix’s Animals Takes a Bite out of the Competition on the Nielsen Charts
The previous Nielsen chart data, from the week of Oct. 5 and 11, showed Animals once again coming out on top, but by a smaller margin. It pulled in a similar number of minutes viewed — 719 million — but the gap was much smaller between it and second place, with Netflix’s own Doing Life pulling in a respectable 428 million for that week. Now, with Toy Story 5 trailing Animals, the margin between the two titles has increased significantly.
Animals sees Affleck and Washington starring as Mark and Abigail Kimball, respectively. The couple have their entire life shaken when their son is kidnapped, and they are drawn into a web of deception — right as Mark is deep in a campaign to become the mayor of Los Angeles. As they try to come up with the ransom payment, their lives are torn apart and secrets come to light.
Animals‘ Nielsen success may comes as a surprise to some audience members who have already watched the film. It has received generally negative reviews from both critics and online users, with a mere 30% of 81 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes being positive. “Despite all the makings of an enticing story, including a compelling Kerry Washington, Animals’ weak writing prevents it from reaching its full potential,” the site’s consensus reads.
Audience reception has been similarly mixed, with a mere 37% of 500+ ratings indicating they enjoyed the film. “One whole star because I didn’t turn it off and watched to the end,” one unimpressed reviewer wrote in a recent review on Rotten Tomatoes. “Trailer looked interesting but I guess there’s a reason it’s free on Netflix.”
Still, the film’s star power appears to be enough to draw eyes on the Netflix original. In addition to Affleck and Washington, Animals‘ cast also includes The X-Files‘ Gillian Anderson, Emilia Pérez‘s Adriana Paz, Justice League‘s Ray Fisher, and The Walking Dead‘s Steven Yeun.
Ben Affleck Says Animals is the Film He’s “Most Proud Of” in His Career
For Affleck, Animals’ continued success is sure to be even sweeter news, with the actor not only starring in the film but also serving as director, writer and producer. He previously talked to Netflix’s Tudum about what Animals meant to him and his career.
“What I wanted was for the audience to really want to know more about each of the characters, so that they’re engaged just as much in the reveals about who all these people are as they are in the core plot of it,” Affleck said. “It was difficult, but really rewarding in the end. This is probably the movie I’m the most proud of in my career.”
Animals is now streaming on Netflix.
- Release Date
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October 9, 2026
- Runtime
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106 minutes
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Kerry Washington
Abigail Kimball
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Gillian Anderson
Dayle Burton
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