Another day, another scathing remark from Quentin Tarantino. Not content with squandering much of his credibility by slandering Paul Dano, he's back to complain about modern cinema. True, Tarantino isn't a fan of modern films—unless, of course, you put Ben Affleck and Matt Damon in a mediocre streaming movie, in which case he's all for it. That's right: the writer/director was apparently thrilled by the reunion of Affleck and Damon in Joe Carnahan's bleak Netflix film, "Breakdown." Otherwise, he's rather indifferent.
Ever since Zach Woods "killed" Tarantino, as Vulture put it, we should all collectively agree to treat his harsh remarks like childish tantrums. Just ignore them, and eventually, it will all blow over. But regardless of your opinion of his views, the fact remains: Tarantino is one of the greatest directors of the last few decades, which means people will listen to him no matter what. Now we're all forced to listen to people tell us that "Breakdown" is supposedly one of the best films of our time.
World of Reel reports that the latest issue of Sight and Sound magazine features an article by the director himself, who apparently devotes much of the essay to lamenting the current state of cinema. However, according to the publication, Tarantino also devotes three pages to praising the film "The Rupture," which apparently "captured his attention throughout.".
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In the film The Rip, Matt Damon and Detective Sergeant J.D. Byrne (Ben Affleck) sit next to each other in chairs and look at someone off-screen.
Against the backdrop of Quentin Tarantino's controversial films, the assertion that contemporary cinema is somehow lacking compared to the films of past decades is certainly not controversial. Tell me, haven't we lost anything as a culture when Kevin Hart's "Elevator" tops the Netflix charts? Nevertheless, great films do exist; you just have to search for them among the trash. A prime example: the best and most underrated film of 2025, "Sovereign." However, Tarantino clearly isn't interested.
«"I loved going to the movies," he explains in his article. "These days, however, the very concept of 'movie' evokes more contempt than generosity in me. And rightfully so, because the films of the last six years make the '80s feel like the '30s." That last statement is fairly coherent, though not quite the devastating blow Tarantino believes it to be. But what follows is truly baffling. Tarantino mentions 2021's West Side Story and the first two installments of Kevin Costner's Horizon: An American Saga series as films that made some impression on him, then declares that Breakdown was the only film of the last few years that truly captivated him.
«"A new film has come out that has me captivated and kept me on the edge of my seat until the very end," he writes. "Joe Carnahan's 'Break,' starring the dynamic duo of Matt Damon and Ben Affleck." The film debuted in January 2026, kicking off the year with a solid crime thriller starring two Hollywood heavyweights that, to put it most diplomatically, was exactly where it needed to be when it hit Netflix. For Tarantino, however, it was an absolute triumph.
«"Breakdown" is a modern classic according to Quentin Tarantino.
In the Netflix film "Breakdown," Detective Sergeant J.D. Byrne, played by Ben Affleck, shines a flashlight while Lieutenant Dane Dumars, played by Matt Damon, looks on.
The film "Breakdown" was officially considered Netflix's first must-see film of 2026. But despite its impressive cast and must-see status, like many Netflix films, it was quickly released and quickly forgotten. The film follows Detective Sergeant J.D. Byrne (Ben Affleck), Lieutenant Dane Dumars (Matt Damon), and their drug enforcement tactical team, who find themselves trapped in a Miami stash house after a raid. As events unfold, the group begins to suspect each other of ulterior motives, and their trust begins to crumble.
The film earned a respectable 77% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, earning praise for its cast and action. As Jarrod Jones of The AV Club put it, "It functions quite comfortably as a solid, mid-tier action film." However, Quentin Tarantino disagrees. The director was so impressed with Joe Carnahan's film that, according to World of Reel, he simply couldn't believe it when a friend expressed an opinion similar to Jones's.
Like anyone else, Tarantino has the right to like whatever he wants, and frankly, I welcome his critique of the state of contemporary cinema, if only because the inevitable backlash will surely generate the necessary passions to ultimately shed light on the situation. If nothing else has held Tarantino in its grip or "carried him away to a magical land of pleasure," then let's talk about it. If he "prefers to read a book" to watch a movie, fine. Still, one can only wonder why "The Break" in particular captivated him so. I think it's fair to say the film exhibits several tendencies that could be argued to represent precisely the degradation of cinema Tarantino describes, if only in how ephemeral it all seemed amid the deluge of "content.".
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Read the original article on SlashFilm.