“It’s going to really start to infringe on how we’re telling these stories,” said the star of the new Netflix crime flick “The Rip.”

Matt Damon says Netflix wants plot repeated 3 or 4 times in movies for viewers watching while on their phones

"It's going to really start to infringe on how we're telling these stories," said the star of the new Netflix crime flick "The Rip."

By Mekishana Pierre

Mekishana Pierre

Mekishana Pierre is a news writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2025. Her work has previously appeared on *Entertainment Tonight* and Popsugar.

EW's editorial guidelines

on January 17, 2026 6:31 p.m. ET

Leave a Comment

Matt Damon and Ben Affleck in 'The Rip'. Credit:

Warrick Page/Netflix

Netflix has played a large role in changing the movie industry in the past decade or so, and, according to Matt Damon, it wants to make even more changes.

The actor recently addressed how the streamer has tweaked the way films are made — specifically how plots are reiterated in their dialogue — now that so many viewers are watching them at home versus in a theater.

"I went to see *One Battle After Another* on IMAX — there's nothing like that feeling," Damon said, recalling a trip he took to the theater with his family while promoting *The Rip*, his new Netflix crime-thriller with longtime collaborator Ben Affleck, during an appearance on *The Joe Rogan Experience* this week. "You're in with, you know, a bunch of strangers, but people in your community, and you're having this experience together. I always say it's more like going to church — you show up at an appointed time. It doesn't wait for you."

Seeing a movie at home, however, is another story.

"You're watching in a room, the lights are on, other shit's going on, the kids are running around, the dogs are running around, whatever it is," he continued. "It's just a very different level of attention that you're willing, or that you're able, to give to it."

Matt Damon at the premiere of 'The Rip' on Jan. 13, 2026.

Arturo Holmes/WireImage

That difference in viewing habits is why Netflix wants moviemakers to tell their stories another way, the actor-director said.

"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."

The actor added that the streamer pushes for a framing that reiterates "the plot three or four times in the dialogue because people are on their phones while they're watching."

"It's going to really start to infringe on how we're telling these stories," Damon predicted.

However, Affleck, who co-founded the production company Artists Equity with Damon in 2022, pointed out that this method isn't the only way for streaming-only releases to keep audiences tuned in.

"But then you look at *Adolescence*, and it didn't do any of that s---," Affleck said. "And it's f---ing 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."

Ben Affleck reveals the actress Leonardo DiCaprio privately raved to him about

Ben Affleck was puking between takes while shooting big 'Armageddon' scene with Bruce Willis

While Damon said he thinks shows are the exception, Affleck asserted that the limited series' success "demonstrates you don't have" to spoon-feed viewers the plot to hold their attention.

"It demonstrates that you don't need to do any of that s--- to get people [to watch]," Affleck said, adding that he doesn't think streaming poses an "existential threat" and that storytelling was bound to shift as circumstances resulted in fewer people going to theaters.

But Affleck maintained that theaters will never be obsolete: "People are still going to go to the movies because of what you said. It feels like a cool thing to do. I'm going to go see *The Odyssey,* I guarantee you, in a theater, no matter what."

In *The Rip*, Affleck and Damon play Miami cops whose loyalties are put to the test when they find millions of dollars in drug money hidden in a rundown home. To prepare for their roles, they spent time with real police officers.

"All the stuff that I find surprising and that I tend to be proud of comes from research," Affleck told ** of the experience. "I think I'm better skilled at recognizing interesting things from the world that I can put into films than just conjuring up from my imagination something to do."

Damon, meanwhile, said he was drawn to the script because "it was a page-turner."

Steven Yeun, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, and Kyle Chandler in 'The Rip'.

Claire Folger/Netflix

"There are these competing agendas, and people aren't saying exactly what's going on, and you're trying to figure out who you can trust, who you can't, who's the good guy, who's the bad guy," he added of the action-packed affair, which based on a true story.

*The Rip, *which also stars Kyle Chandler, Steven Yeun, and recent Golden Globe winner Teyana Taylor, is streaming now on Netflix.

***Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with our EW Dispatch newsletter.***

Watch Affleck and Damon's appearance on *The Joe Rogen Experience* above.**

- Movie Reviews & Recommendations

- Movie Industry

- Film Production

Original Article on Source

Source: “EW Film”