The Accountant 2 Premiered At SXSW, And First Reactions Say Jon Bernthal Bolsters Ben Affleck's ‘Brother Buddy Comedy'

Yahoo

11-03-2025

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Movie lovers at the South by Southwest are getting a first look at plenty of highly anticipated projects coming to the 2025 movie calendar, and that includes the next project from Ben Affleck — The Accountant 2. The upcoming action movie is a sequel to the 2016 flick that again centers around Affleck's autistic accountant Christian. Matt Damon showed up to support his BFF at the SXSW premiere in Texas, but what are audiences saying?
In addition to Ben Affleck, Jon Bernthal co-stars as Christian's estranged brother Braxton. Cynthia Addai-Robinson and J. K. Simmons reprise their roles from the first film as well, though the trailer confirms a big character death. Ranking the movie 8 out of 10, Ryan Scott of SlashFilm says The Accountant 2 is funnier than the first movie but not devoid of heart, and it makes Affleck's character more three dimensional. In short, it improves on its predecessor in every way, Scott says, writing:
Is it sometimes outlandish? Completely, but since when did movies have to be realistic? Escapism often works very well when we can leave reality behind. What I can say with confidence is that anyone who enjoyed The Accountant will undoubtedly enjoy this follow-up. It's rare that sequels outdo what came before, but [director Gavin O'Connor] manages to do so here. This is pure popcorn entertainment, executed effectively. Let me put it this way: If they make three more Accountant movies, I will watch three more Accountant movies. Honestly, I hope they do.
Nate Richard of Collider also gives the movie an 8 out of 10, praising the chemistry between Ben Affleck and Jon Bernthal and the action scenes that easily one-up anything from The Accountant. As for Affleck's portrayal of a man on the autism spectrum, Richard notes that the sequel makes a concerted effort to represent neurodiversity without slipping into stereotypes. The critic says:
Affleck plays Christian with more nuance than he did before. He's incredibly smart, but the movie goes a long way to show that he struggles with socializing with others. The movie also never relies too much on negative stereotypes, and the expanded role of Christian's nonverbal partner, Justine (Allison Robertson) shows those on the spectrum not as superheroes, but just people. Justine is highly skilled, but she still feels like a human being. Not just a walking stereotype.
Lovia Gyarkye of THR agrees that the stars' portrayal of the brothers is what makes The Accountant 2 so successful, and that especially fans of the first movie will be rooting for this fraternal pair. Gyarkye continues:
The Accountant 2 delivers as far as sequels without any real purpose go. O'Connor reunites with screenwriter Bill Dubuque to expand on Christian's wild universe of money laundering and hired assassins. Whereas The Accountant made well-intentioned but clumsy attempts to explore the life of a high-functioning autistic man, The Accountant 2 focuses on the relationship between Christian and his brother Brax, two characters fans have come to love. This is a fraternal buddy comedy dressed up as an intricate (read: convoluted), nail-biting thriller.
Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com, however, was less impressed with the movie overall, giving it 2 out of 4 stars. Tallerico agrees that the exploration of Christian's relationship with brother Brax is when The Accountant 2 is at its best, but Gavin O'Connor doesn't put the same amount of effort into making us care about the rest of the plot. In the critic's words:
The Accountant 2 just doesn't build enough momentum. I think one of the reasons for that is that O'Connor is far more interested in the brother buddy comedy than the human trafficking action film, and never quite figures out how to blend the two. The film about two very different brothers who try to bridge the chasm of personality between them? Almost completely works. Everything else? Total hokum. Merging the two becomes an assignment too difficult for even The Accountant to decipher.
Christian Zilko of IndieWire grades the movie a C+, writing that there's no real reason for this sequel to exist nine years later, but it improves on the first by giving Jon Bernthal a bigger piece of the pie. The Accountant 2 offers more laughs and more heart, Zilko concludes, writing:
If there's one thing The Accountant 2 deserves credit for, it's figuring out that an autistic Ben Affleck is simply not enough to carry an action movie on his own. Christian Wolff might actually be one of Affleck's better acting jobs in recent years, but he works far better as a foil than a leading man. Bernthal shows up with buckets of charm to share the heavy lifting, making Affleck's accountant seem more sympathetic and competent by comparison. And with the two men enjoying equal time in the spotlight, the film's moments of levity seem more like brotherly razzing than cruel jabs at a disabled man.
We've still got a while to wait before The Accountant 2 hits theaters on Friday, April 25, so if you want to catch up on what you missed the first time around, The Accountant can be streamed with either a Max subscription or Amazon Prime Video subscription.
And, if you did enjoy these characters in the first movie, critics' first reactions seem to indicate you'll be happy with the sequel. While we wait for its release date, be sure to check out Ben Affleck's other upcoming projects.