The announcement of an upcoming sequel to The Accountant, starring Ben Affleck, has generated a newfound curiosity about the 2016 film. It has soared past plenty of current contenders to hit the number one spot on the top ten films chart on Netflix US.
Directed by Gavin O’Connor and written by Bill Dubuque, The Accountant is nestled at the fourth rank on Netflix’s global film chart as well. Affleck leads the charge, who plays the seemingly simple accountant Christian Wolff. He has a penchant for “un-cooking” the books and helps criminal and terrorist organisations around the world commit monetary fraud.
Joining Affleck are Anna Kendrick, J.K. Simmons, Jon Bernthal, and Cynthia Addai-Robinson. All of them are slated to return for the sequel that will delve deeper into the dynamic between the Wolff brothers, Christian and Braxton (played by Bernthal).
The story in The Accountant follows Christian, a highly intelligent and mathematically gifted accountant on the autism spectrum. Christian’s skills extend far beyond number-crunching; he’s also a formidable martial artist and marksman. When a seemingly routine job uncovers a shocking conspiracy, Christian realises that he may have bitten off more than he can chew.
In preparation for the role, the Good Will Hunting actor met with people who are on the autism spectrum. In addition to observing how most autistic people tend to have a wry sense of humour, Affleck considered the moment to be “educational”. He told Collider, “I had this idea of autism being withdrawn, but these people were actually quite enthusiastic, engaged and fired up.”
“We didn’t want to make fun of this character,” Affleck assured. While it is perfectly fine to be wary of neurotypical actors portraying neurodivergent characters, especially in mainstream Hollywood, it is also important to understand that autism is a spectrum and individual experiences of people with autism vary widely. Danny Pudi’s Abed Nadir on Community still happens to be one of the better portrayals of autism on TV.
You can watch The Accountant on Netflix and catch the trailer here:
