The Accountant 2: Affleck And Bernthal SHINE In Stellar Sequel [SXSW Review]

The Accountant 2 is the long-awaited sequel to 2016’s The Accountant. By all measures, it lives up to that first film. It’s not just in the action where this sequel somehow manages to outdo its predecessor. No, it’s also in its surprisingly emotional and comedic moments. These scenes are heavily emphasized by the brotherly love on display between Christian Wolff (Ben Affleck) and his brother/costar Braxton (Jon Bernthal).

The Accountant 2 made its theatrical debut last Friday at SXSW 2025. This was the film I was most excited about heading into SXSW. And let me tell you, it did not disappoint. Now and then an unexpected sequel releases years after the first and you wonder if it was necessary. Director Gavin O’Connor perfects what he did with the characters in the first movie and creates an action-filled, brotherly love, and hilarious film.

The Accountant 2 kicks off when Raymond King (J.K. Simmons), who spent the first movie attempting to track down Christian Wolff (Affleck), gets assassinated. Before the assassination, King meets with an unlikely ally which sets up a beautiful nerve-racking opening action sequence that had the entire Paramount Theatre cheering. King’s assistant, Marybeth Medina (Cynthia Addai-Robinson), is perplexed by the message he left behind while visiting his body at the morgue to confirm his identity. Before dying King scrawled out on his arm “Find the Accountant.”

Marybeth needs to recruit Christian for a mission to find the culprit behind Raymond’s murder. However, this proves to be no simple task, as there’s something far more sinister lurking beneath the surface. Knowing he might be over his head on this, it leads Christian to seek help from an unexpected ally, his estranged brother Brax (Bernthal).

WHAT SETS THE ACCOUNTANT 2 APART

What made the original film surprisingly great was Affleck’s performance and the incredible action. What sets this sequel apart from the original is the perfect comedic timing throughout. But trust me, the action is ramped up. The big reason why the action of this film is the best part about it is its fluidity. It doesn’t rely on scene cuts the way other action films do. Instead, all of the action sequences are a single, long cut that emphasizes continuity to the action, which includes both some brutal street fighting and intense gunplay. 

When I say “brutal”, I mean it. The violence in this film is quite visceral and bloody. There is a scene where Christian brutally tortures a random bad guy not unlike what you saw in bloody military action games like Call of Duty: Black Ops. This film is not for the faint of heart and will keep action junkies very much entertained indeed.

THE ACTION LEADS AND THE EMOTION FOLLOWS

However, the action isn’t the only good thing about the film. Much to my surprise, the film has a large amount of emotional depth to it. It’s all largely down to Christian and Braxton playing off of each other as brothers who have been estranged from each other for some time, but still clearly care about each other. The film has them go through some warm bonding moments, with Brax needling Christian in ways to push his buttons without going overboard in a way that perfectly fits the annoying but caring brother archetype. It’s the intermix of emotional tenderness with the ultra-violent action that makes this one of the best sequels I’ve seen in quite some time.

O’Connor seems to love to up the ante in this and it shows. The action is better, the comedic moments are spot on and Affleck knows how to raise the bar, taking Wolff places that make him uncomfortable. And it’s there where Bernthal teams with him and you get to see how truly great of an actor he is. I left the theater excited and full of adrenaline, and that’s a great sign for what’s to come with a potential third film.

The Accountant 2 premieres in theaters April 25.

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