THE ACCOUNTANT 2 (2025)

Let’s face it, Hollywood has no shortage of franchises. From the stunt-filled Mission: Impossible series to the tyre-squealing Fast & Furious movies, it seems as though not a year goes by without another entry in an action film series about implausible spies blowing people away and blowing buildings up. Most of these films rely on trope characters and fun but clichéd plots and dialogue that do little but make way for the next big car chase or fantastic stunt. Many do provide an entertaining cinematic experience for an afternoon, but you’re unlikely to remember the specifics of the characters or plot once you leave your cinema seat. That’s why, when an action film seamlessly blends mystery and action with compelling characters and intriguing plots, you can’t help but stand up and take notice. Luckily, with this sequel to The Accountant (2016), we have the beginnings of a franchise that does just that.

Like the first film, The Accountant 2 centres on Christian Wolffe (Ben Affleck), a certified public accountant on the autism spectrum who makes the majority of his money “uncooking books” and finding financial thievery and irregularities in mostly shadowy and unsavoury organisations. When the retired treasury secretary turned private investigator, Ray King (J.K Simmons), who accepted tips from Wolffe while he worked for the treasury, is murdered after meeting with a mysterious client, a message on his arm tells his replacement in the treasury, Marybeth Medina (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) to “find the accountant”.

Medina enlists Christian Wolffe’s help in deciphering the case King was working on involving human trafficking and a family of undocumented workers, including a boy who might also be on the spectrum. When Wolffe realises that this case will require much more than his head for numbers, he enlists the help of his estranged killer-for-hire brother, Braxton (Jon Bernthal), in addition to Justine (Alison Wright), who has non-verbal autism and communicates through her computer while hacking into any cameras and computers via her home at the Harbor Center for Neuroscience.

Unlike the first film, which contained a genuine financial mystery, The Accountant 2 focuses less on Christian’s mathematical skills and plot twists, choosing instead to examine his complex relationship with his brother and the moral qualms that by-the-book Medina has about joining forces with Wolff and Braxton, who have a much more lackadaisical approach to the rules.

Honestly, by focusing on the fascinating characters and their dynamics, this sequel manages to improve on the original film. The brotherly dynamic between Braxton and Christian creates a buddy comedy feeling that is present in almost all the best action comedy franchises. It’s safe to say that with Bernthal and Affleck, we may have a duo on the same level as Lethal Weapon (1987) or Bad Boys (1995). What’s better, because this is a 21st-century franchise, the films don’t have to rely on nostalgia to make the jokes land or the plot stick. For almost the first time, we can watch characters develop and grow in real time on the screen. And, as it turns out, getting to know new favourite characters is just as much fun as spending time with old ones.

The character study continues through the plot as we begin to examine the moral complexity of The Accountant’s whole set-up: namely, how far is too far for a federal agency to go when seeking to solve a crime or uncover a criminal organisation? This moral quandary was touched on in the first Accountant film but never fully explored. Here, luckily, we get to see the complexities play out. In one expertly filmed and well-performed scene, we see Justine and her implausible army of neurodiverse computer expert children hack into a woman’s personal computer to find one picture where a suspect lingers in the background. Medina, who’s watching the hack along with Christian and Braxton, becomes more and more unsettled, the further Justine and the others go into this innocent woman’s photos and information without her knowledge. As the scene goes on, the way the information appears on the screen, as well as Justine’s ambivalence and Medina’s increasing horror make us, the audience, more and more uncomfortable with how far into others personal lives, the accountant and his cohorts are willing to delve to get the information they seek.

Perhaps this scene hits home for us because, unlike several previous hacking scenes that seem both impersonal and highly unlikely, this scenario not only makes hacking personal but is also far more likely to happen.

After all, a bunch of neurodiverse pre-teens hacking into complex government or mob-connected systems is definitely in the realm of fiction. However, clever children can easily hack into the personal computer of a Gen-Xer with a weak password and a camera connected for Zoom calls. Also, rather than spreadsheets and data, we’re seeing personal photos of this woman’s husband, friends, and young children, which makes her a real person in our minds. A real person who would probably not appreciate having her boundaries violated.

Either way, for perhaps the first time in an action comedy movie, we’re left feeling just as unsettled as the “by the book” cop about the boundaries being crossed. By the end of the scene, the audience can’t help but agree with Medina, who was calling for it all to stop. But, we could also understand Justine and Christian’s hyper focus and inability to finish what they’ve started.

Scenarios like this along with discussions between Christian and Braxton about Christian’s seeming inability to reach out to loved ones or connect on a social level serve as the emotional underpinnings for the film. And, perhaps surprisingly for an action/comedy film, these scenes are truly poignant, believable and touching.

As in the original film, people on the spectrum or people who work with or love people on the spectrum will still not be fully satisfied with the portrayals of autism. As is typical of Hollywood, the film still relies on some stereotypes and tropes about autism and the autism spectrum that are not entirely true or, at least, not true of everyone with the condition.

While difficulties with social interaction, understanding metaphors, and social cues are fairly well done, particularly by Affleck, who gives a surprisingly nuanced and impressive performance, other tropes like everyone with autism being a human computer, being able to pick up any complex problems with ease, etc., are too heavily leaned on. Knowing people on the spectrum, I know that, no, not everyone who has this neurodiverse condition is a maths or computer whiz. Not every autistic person is Rain Man (1988).

That said, The Accountant, at the very least, makes a good faith effort to be inclusive of the autism experience and seeks, in its own way, to give young people on the spectrum a hero to look up to. For the most part, it succeeds in doing this.

Despite the fact that Christian Wolf and his brother often work for unsavoury characters, there are lines they will not cross. In each scenario we’ve found them in, we see that they have a strong moral code that puts them, much more often than not, on the side of the angels. Whether we’re watching Braxton try and connect with the one innocent woman at a mob safe house rather than killing her (after having killed all the mob-connected men) or seeing Christian find a safe home for a neurodiverse boy who has been the victim of human trafficking, we know that, whoever they may work for, when it matters, these brothers will continue to do the right thing.

This ultimate realisation leads not only to a reconciliation with the federal treasury department (which agrees to continue receiving tips from the accountant) but a sweet and somewhat nostalgic ending that sees the good characters rewarded while the evil men get their comeuppance. While some may find this quaint, I find it refreshing. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: in an age of anti-heroes, we still need real heroes. The Accountant is one of those real heroes. And I hope we continue to see much more of him in the future.

USA | 2025 | 132 MINUTES | 2.35:1 | COLOUR | ENGLISH

Cast & Crew

director: Gavin O’Connor.
writer: Bill Dubuque.
starring: Ben Affleck, Jon Bernthal, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Daniella Pineda & J.K Simmons.