In Matt Damon’s new Netflix thriller, “The Rip,” a group of cops and crooks battle over a $20 million cash stash.
The film’s production highlighted the struggle to capture viewers’ ever-dwindling attention spans—a challenge that has fundamentally altered how movies are crafted.
Speaking with longtime friend and co-star Ben Affleck on the “Joe Rogan Experience” last week, Damon detailed how the new economics of streaming have reshaped storytelling.
Damon explained that audiences now demand a different approach to pacing. “For instance,” he said, “the standard way to make an action movie was having three set pieces—each in one act. You’d spend most of your money on the third-act finale. Now they’re asking, ‘Can we get a big one in the first five minutes? We want people to stay tuned in.’”
He also noted that dialogue has become simpler and more repetitive because viewers split their attention. “It wouldn’t be terrible if you reiterated the plot three or four times,” Damon joked. “People are on their phones while they’re watching.”
Damon warned that such platform guidelines could infringe on storytelling, stressing that writers must balance these demands with artistic integrity.
This trend of “casual viewing” gained widespread discussion in 2025 as a style of filmmaking that critics described as “overly descriptive, breaking basic rules of cinema and contributing to a dumbing down of the art.”
Affleck praised British crime drama “Adolescence” for its minimalism: “It didn’t do any of that st,” he said. “That’s what made it fking great.” He added, “There are long shots of the back of their head. They get in the car, nobody says anything. … You don’t need to do any of that.”
Affleck emphasized that quality films will always find an audience: “It’s like supply and demand,” he explained. “People want to look at their phone—TikTok, whatever—they’ll do it. But what you can do is make the best you can.”
When asked about creating content for mobile viewers, Damon quipped that he often challenges directors by asking, “How will this look on a cell phone?” The joke, he said, always gets them angry.
