Matt Damon drops an unlikely revelation about Netflix films
According to the star of The Rip, a thriller currently online on the platform, Netflix films are designed “for viewers who are on their phones at the same time”…
According to Matt Damon, films produced by Netflix are now designed for spectators… who watch while scrolling on their phone.
An astonishing confession, bluntly released by the actor during his appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast, alongside his long-time accomplice Ben Affleck, who came to promote their new thriller The Ripcurrently online on the platform.
For Damon, the problem is simple: the level of attention is no longer the same between a cinema room and a sofa. And Netflix is fully aware of this. Result ? The very way of making films is said to be changing.
“At home, spectators do not have at all the same level of attention as in the theater”he explains, before detailing the new implicit instructions for streaming: advance the spectacular scenes from the beginning of the film… and repeat the plot several times in the dialogues, just in case.
“The classic way of making an action film is three big pieces of bravura: one in the first act, one in the second, one in the third. And we put the biggest part of the budget in the last, the finale”reminds Damon before detailing the way in which Netflix films are currently approached:
“Nowadays, they’re saying to us, ‘Can we have a huge scene in the first five minutes? We want people to stay. And it wouldn’t be a bad idea to repeat the plot three or four times in the dialogue, because people are on their phones while they’re watching…’
An industrial logic that says a lot about the way platforms measure engagement – and the permanent fear of seeing the viewer skip.
Ben Affleck, for his part, is not completely convinced by this algorithmic vision of narration. He cites as a counter-example the recent success of the mini-series Adolescence also broadcast on Netflix:
“And then you watch ‘Adolescence,’ and it does absolutely none of that.”blurted Affleck. “And it’s fucking brilliant! It’s dark, tragic, intense. It’s the story of a father who discovers that his son is accused of murder. There are long shots of the backs of heads, scenes in cars where no one speaks…”
If Matt Damon recognizes that works like Adolescence remain “the exception”Affleck sees it on the contrary as proof that another Netflix is possible:
“It shows that you don’t have to use these tricks to reach the public!”
Between films calibrated to be the secondary screen of the living room and works that dare to remain silent, Netflix today seems torn between two visions of cinema…
