What 'The Rip' Means in Ben Affleck and Matt Damon's Netflix Thriller

Movieweb reports Netflix just released the action thriller The Rip, starring Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, which follows a Tactical Narcotics Team whose detectives stumble on a sum of money far larger than anyone could have imagined.

The film centers on the titular "Rip," a piece of police slang the characters discuss with some confusion. In the movie a "rip" is used both to describe money confiscated during a legal seizure and, alternately, to refer to police stealing a criminal's belongings — essentially "ripping" them. The story uses both senses, and the source material notes that "RIP" can indicate a "robbery in progress" and echoes phrases like "rip and run" familiar from other crime dramas.

Writer-director Joe Carnahan, who previously worked on Narc and Smokin' Aces, leans into police terminology to build moral ambiguity about who the good cops are. The film gives viewers clues to the title's meaning but does not spell everything out, and Carnahan expects audiences to assemble the pieces as they watch, leaving some interpretation open.

Key Topics

Culture, The Rip, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Joe Carnahan, Tactical Narcotics Team