3 Minutes
Quentin Tarantino doesn't mince words. He told Sight & Sound that modern Hollywood feels like a 'flavorless sausage factory'—a place where miscasting, audience pandering and careless choices torpedo films before they ever find their feet.
He admits his patience is short. Watching a new release, he says, has become 'almost impossible' without picking it apart: flaws, implausibilities, and cheap tricks pop up so often that the experience inspires more contempt than generosity. Short, sharp sentences. Long, slow sighs. The tone is both wry and weary.
There are exceptions, he allows. He enjoyed the 2021 West Side Story revival and the sprawling ambition of Horizon: An American Saga, chapters one and two. Still, Tarantino confesses fewer films have swept him into that cinematic trance he once visited regularly. These days, he’d rather lose himself in a book.
Then came The Rip. A Netflix crime thriller that grabbed him and held on. Directed by Joe Carnahan and starring Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, the film follows two Miami-Dade officers who unearth corruption tied to $20 million in cartel cash. The supporting cast—Steven Yeun, Teyana Taylor, Sasha Calle and Kyle Chandler—helps push the engine forward.
What impressed Tarantino most wasn’t just the premise but the execution. He praised Carnahan’s direction, the atmospheric cinematography by Juan Miguel Azpiroz, and, above all, the screenplay by Carnahan and Michael McGrale. In his view, the movie delivers tension and surprises in clever, satisfying ways.
Away from reviews, Tarantino is busy with other projects. He’s writing a play called The Popinjay Cavalier, billed as a swashbuckling comedy set in 1930s Europe, with a West End premiere slated for 2027. As for his film career, the director hasn’t named which picture will be his tenth and final feature—his much-discussed farewell remains suspenseful in its own right.
If you want to see what convinced him, The Rip is streaming on Netflix. Judge for yourself: has Hollywood lost its taste, or is Tarantino simply tuning his palate to a different frequency?
Source: variety
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