- The Rip follows a group of detectives who come across millions of dollars in cash during an investigation.
- The reveal of the money throws into question who can be trusted and who is out for themselves.
- If you aren't worried about spoilers, find out how the story wraps up below.
Matt Damon and Ben Affleck have teamed up for an emotional drama (Good Will Hunting), a 14th century period piece (The Last Duel), a dramedy about sneakers (Air), and many more projects that they've produced and acted in together. Now, they're taking on a crime thriller. In The Rip, Damon and Affleck play detectives who—along with a few other members of their team—find $20 million stashed in a house. And while there are references to a drug cartel, the battle in The Rip is between the police officers and whether they can trust one another when their lives, careers, and a potentially huge payday is on the line.
The movie involves some twists, so if you want to make sure you followed along with what was really going on, keep reading. And if you haven't watched The Rip yet—one, it's available on Netflix now, and two, there are spoilers ahead.
Let's set the scene
Lt. Dane Dumars (Damon) tells his team that they have been sent a crime stoppers tip about criminals storing money at a stash house and that they have to go investigate. At the house, they tell the woman living there, Desi (Sasha Calle), that they are going to search for drugs. When they find $20 million in cash, this leads to a bunch of questioning of Desi, who denies knowing anything and says it was her late grandmother's house. She eventually admits that drug traffickers convinced her to periodically let them use the house while she leaves for hours at a time.
While this is going on, the team of detectives are also mourning the loss of their captain, Jackie (Lina Esco), who was recently killed on the job by unknown culprits. Jackie was in a relationship with Sgt. JD Byrne (Affleck), Dane's second in command.
Dane is super suspish
As the investigation into the house and cash is going down, Dane starts acting very… weird. He tells each member of the team a different amount of money was reported to be in the house in the crime stoppers tip ($150K, $300K, etc). He is very eager to get into the house, even if it means lying to Desi about the reason they’re searching it. He confiscates
everyone's phone. And he eventually tells two detectives, Lolo (Catalina Sandino Moreno) and Numa (Teyana Taylor), that they should steal the money. This plan is overheard by Desi, who tells Mike Ro (Steven Yeun), another detective on the scene. Mike is shown texting someone—on a secret phone—about the situation.
Meanwhile, the house keeps getting creepy calls from someone saying that the cops should just take whatever money they want because "no one needs to die over $150K." The voice also says that they have 30 minutes to get the eff out of there.
JD grows increasingly suspicious of his old buddy Dane
Because of all of the above, JD is like, uhhhh, this doesn’t feel right. So, he texts a DEA agent acquaintance, Matty (Kyle Chandler), about what Dane is up to. Matty looks into the situation and lets JD know that there was no crime stoppers tip at all!
After a brief phone call with a cartel leader who basically tells them, "We're not after you right now. Good luck," JD confronts Dane in front of the rest of the team. He says that there was no crime stoppers tip and accuses Dane of being on a team of cop thieves. They get into a physical fight, but move forward with trying to get out of there with the money that is supposed to be turned over to the authorities after they count it.
Mike and Desi secretly start a fire to try to get everyone out of the house quicker. Matty comes to pick up Dane, JD, and Mike to flee the scene while Lolo and Numa stay behind with Desi.
So… Dane is the problem, then?
Nope! It was all a plan! In the back of the DEA truck, Dane reveals that he brought everyone to the house based on an investigation that Jackie was working on prior to her death. He told everyone a different amount of money was there as a trap, and it worked. He told Mike there was a $150K stash, which means Mike must have been responsible for the creepy, threatening phone call that mentioned there being $150K. JD became part of the plan midway through and their fight was a ruse to trick Mike. Lolo and Numa were in on it, too—they weren’t actually going to steal the money. Dane was sure Desi would tell Mike what she overheard about Dane, Lolo, and Numa pocketing the money because Mike appeared trustworthy to her. And now, Mike has been caught sending messages about the goings-on with his secret phone.
Not only this, but Mike has been working with DEA agent Matty all along—criminals working from the inside for their own benefit—and they are the ones who killed Jackie.
At this point, the movie launches into an extended action sequence. Guns, fistfights, explosions, car chases, everything as Mike and Matty try to escape.
What happens to everyone?
JD kills Matty during their confrontation. Dane arrests Mike. The group turn over the money to the authorities. Desi gets a large monetary reward for cooperating with the police. Lolo and Numa finally get to go home and relax. JD and Dane sit on a beach and watch the sunrise. Dane, who had said at the start of the movie that he wasn't sure he wanted to be a cop anymore, takes off his badge. The pair notice a girl and her mom walking along nearby. The girl’s name? Jackie.
