Famous actor Matt Damon surprised everyone by revealing that streaming platforms are now discussing the idea of repeating a film's plot several times within the script. The goal is to remind viewers of the story details during playback, considering that many of them are distracted by their phones.
Damon and Ben Affleck recently appeared on "The Joe Rogan Experience" to promote their new film on Netflix, "The Rip." The friends and long-time colleagues shared their views on how streaming services have changed the way films are made.
According to Damon, viewers give a film "a completely different level of attention" when watching it at home compared to a theater. This, he said, has led Netflix to seek to place action scenes at the beginning of the film. He cited the successful British series "The End of the F***ing World" as a clear example of this approach.
Affleck, however, stated that the series did not resort to such tactics, yet it became a magnificent, dark, and influential work telling a tragic story about a man who discovers his son is accused of murder. He added that the production used long silent scenes and ordinary shots, like driving a car without any dialogue, which gave it a special dramatic power.
While Damon considers works like "The End of the F***ing World" to be the "exception" rather than the rule, Affleck asserts that the series proves that filmmakers "are not forced" to resort to streaming platform tricks to please the audience. "It wouldn't be bad to repeat the plot three or four times in the dialogue, because people are busy with their phones while watching," Damon added.
During the conversation, Affleck interrupted his colleague, emphasizing that the format used by streaming platforms to achieve success is not the only option. "Now they're saying: can we put a powerful scene in the first five minutes? We want to keep the viewers," he concluded.
