The Rip Cast: Matt Damon and Ben Affleck Lead a Pressure-Cooker Cop Thriller Built Around a $20 Million Cash Find
“The Rip” is a 2026 crime action-thriller that leans hard into a classic setup: a tight unit, a massive pile of money, and the creeping suspicion that someone in the room is about to betray everyone else. The hook is simple, but the appeal is the cast—anchored by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck—plus a deep supporting lineup that keeps the story shifting as loyalties crack under stress.
If you’re searching “The Rip cast” or “Matt Damon Ben Affleck The Rip,” here’s who’s in it, who they play, and what each character brings to the movie’s escalating standoff.
The Rip movie: the story in one sentence
A specialized Miami narcotics team discovers roughly $20 million during a raid and decides to count it on-site—triggering paranoia, outside pressure, and a dangerous scramble to control the truth.
The Rip cast: main stars and key roles
| Actor | Character | What to expect from the role |
|---|---|---|
| Matt Damon | Lieutenant Dane Dumars | The unit’s leader, trying to control chaos while trust slips away |
| Ben Affleck | Detective Sergeant J.D. Byrne | A core team member whose decisions are tested by temptation and suspicion |
| Steven Yeun | Detective Mike Ro | A sharp presence in the unit as doubts grow about who’s playing who |
| Teyana Taylor | Detective Numa Baptiste | High-intensity energy and edge; a key voice in the group’s internal power shifts |
| Sasha Calle | Desiree “Desi” Molina | Connected to the raid location and pulled into the consequences of the discovery |
| Catalina Sandino Moreno | Detective Lolo Salazar | A steady, watchful counterweight as tensions spike |
| Scott Adkins | FBI Agent Del Byrne | Federal involvement raises the stakes and complicates loyalties |
| Kyle Chandler | DEA Agent Mateo “Matty” Nix | A hard-nosed presence from outside the unit with his own angles to protect |
Supporting cast: the faces you’ll recognize around the team
Beyond the headline names, “The Rip” fills out its world with characters who widen the threat circle—superiors, additional agents, and local players who make it clear the team isn’t operating in a vacuum.
Notable supporting roles include:
-
Néstor Carbonell as Major Thom Vallejo
-
Lina Esco as Captain Jackie Velez
-
Jose Pablo Cantillo as DEA Agent Dayo Reyes
-
Daisuke Tsuji as FBI Agent Logan Casiano
-
Alex Hernandez as Officer Warwick
-
Cliff Chamberlain as Officer Junger
These roles matter because the movie’s tension doesn’t come only from the money—it comes from who can credibly enforce rules, who can bend them, and who might cash in when nobody’s looking.
Why the cast works for this kind of thriller
“The Rip” is designed like a pressure chamber. That format lives or dies on performances that can sell three things at once: competence, fear, and self-justification.
-
Damon and Affleck bring “old-friends chemistry,” which makes betrayal feel more personal than procedural.
-
Steven Yeun thrives in roles where intelligence and restraint mask volatility—ideal for a story that’s always asking, “Who’s lying right now?”
-
Teyana Taylor adds urgency and confrontation; when the room goes quiet, her character can force it loud again.
-
Chandler and Adkins give the movie institutional friction—federal pressure that turns a bad decision into a no-exit scenario.
-
Sasha Calle and Catalina Sandino Moreno add emotional and moral shading, grounding the story so it doesn’t become only gunfire and shouting.
The Rip creative team and details viewers ask about
-
Director / writer: Joe Carnahan
-
Runtime: 113 minutes
-
Production: Artists Equity (Damon and Affleck are also producers)
-
Release: January 16, 2026, as an exclusive streaming release
The film also draws inspiration from a real-life Miami narcotics case involving a large cash seizure, which helps explain why the procedural details—counting money, controlling a scene, delaying calls up the chain—sit at the center of the plot’s moral conflict.
What to watch for when you hit play
If you’re going in for the cast, the best moments usually come in three types of scenes:
-
The “we have to do this by the book” argument
Everyone agrees on rules until the rules become inconvenient. -
The counting-room paranoia
Small looks and short lines start carrying the weight of full accusations. -
The outside world closing in
The tension shifts from “can they trust each other” to “can they survive the consequences.”
Quick answer: The Rip cast list (headline version)
Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Steven Yeun, Teyana Taylor, Sasha Calle, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Scott Adkins, Kyle Chandler, plus Néstor Carbonell, Lina Esco, Jose Pablo Cantillo, and Daisuke Tsuji.
If you want, paste the cast names you’ve seen in posts or a screenshot from the credits and I’ll match each to their character and where they appear in the story.
