Animals is a broad reimagining of an acclaimed Akira Kurosawa movie, but it is not a direct remake of the film. Directed by Ben Affleck, Animals is a crime thriller inspired by Kurosawa’s High and Low, which was recently similarly reimagined by Spike Lee with Highest 2 Lowest. While the three films share a similar premise involving a kidnapping and a difficult moral dilemma, Animals adds different wrinkles and eventually takes the story in its own direction, using a contemporary setting and a different set of characters to explore the moral complexities of a botched ransom demand.
How Animals Differs from High and Low and Highest 2 Lowest
Akira Kurosawa’s High and Low follows a wealthy executive who faces an agonizing decision after a kidnapper mistakenly abducts his chauffeur’s son instead of his own child. The film explores class divisions, morality, and the difficult choice between protecting one’s wealth and saving an innocent life. Spike Lee’s Highest 2 Lowest, starring Denzel Washington, updates the premise for modern New York City, following a music mogul caught in a similar kidnapping crisis that threatens both his family and his professional reputation.
Every Ben Affleck-Directed Movie, Ranked
Animals takes a different approach to the familiar setup. The film stars Ben Affleck and centers on a wealthy Los Angeles mayoral candidate whose son is kidnapped, forcing him and his wife (Kerry Washington) into a desperate race to secure the ransom. Rather than simply repeating the earlier films, Affleck uses the premise to build a contemporary crime thriller focused on the pressures of public life as a political candidate, and the differences between personal and public life as a famous figurehead.
Although Animals shares its basic premise with High and Low and Highest 2 Lowest, it is better understood as another adaptation of the same underlying story than a straightforward remake of either film. Each version reflects the concerns of its own time and place, giving filmmakers an opportunity to explore how wealth, power, and morality collide when an ordinary family crisis becomes a matter of life and death.
