The Rip ending explained: who was the traitor in the Netflix thriller?

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(Warning! The following article contains major spoilers for The Rip.)

The Rip, a new crime thriller from the team behind Good Will Hunting (Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s production company), is directed and written by Joe Carnahan, known for The A-Team. Affleck and Damon not only produced the film, but also star as leading police officers working within Miami’s elite Tactical Narcotics Team (TNT).

Inspired by real events, The Rip centers around a raid where a tactical team expects to find drugs, but instead uncovers a massive sum of money. Things quickly become complicated as team members are tempted to keep the cash for themselves, and it’s unclear who is connected to the drug cartel. This leads to a violent confrontation in a suburban neighborhood near the stash house.

I was completely gripped by the story, and it all centers around the murder of Jackie Velez, a TNT Captain who initially led them to the house. It’s shocking to realize her tip-off wasn’t about finding drugs at all – the whole thing was a trap! They deliberately set up that stash house to expose the corrupt cops who were skimming money from the raids. It was a brilliant, if tragic, way to uncover the truth.

“The Rip” is a fast-paced and exciting movie (check out our review here!), but all the twists and turns can be a bit much. If you’re still trying to figure out what happened after watching, we’ve got a simple breakdown for you.

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Who was the traitor in The Rip?

The film centers around Lieutenant Dane Dumars, played by Damon, and his partner, Detective Sergeant JD Byrne, played by Affleck. Byrne was dating Jackie, played by Lina Esco, before she was killed.

After discovering Desi (Sasha Calle) – initially thought to be a simple guard at a cartel money stash – is actually an informant with a history of working with Jackie, the pair realize they can use the situation to uncover the source of the corruption.

For most of the movie, it appears Lieutenant Dane Dumars (Damon) intends to rob the house and share the multi-million dollar take with his fellow officers. But it’s eventually revealed this was a setup to expose the truly corrupt member of the team. To keep things secure, everyone is ordered to turn in their phones, preventing outside communication.

While traveling in an armored vehicle with the millions of dollars, it’s discovered that Detective Mike Ro and DEA Agent Matty Nix were secretly working together. They had been communicating through a hidden burner phone, and their plan was to steal the money, which they were supposedly transporting to a DEA bank along with Dane and JD.

Dane figured it out because he’d quietly given each teammate a different amount for the total money. The number he told Mike matched the one the anonymous caller – who was actually Matty – revealed.

This confirms that Matty, assisted by Mike, was responsible for Jackie’s murder. Just before she died, Jackie had tipped them off about the money at the house. Mike and Matty killed her to silence her and ensure their planned robbery could proceed.

The big surprise is that the DEA van never actually contained the $20 million – it had all stayed hidden at the house. The DEA verified the full amount was there, paid Desi her agreed-upon 20% share for helping, and Dane and JD were finally able to unwind on the beach while remembering Jackie. In the end, everything worked out.

Authors

Alex Hewitt

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2026-01-21 16:34