Netflix’s The Rip is fiction, but it’s inspired by a “really wild” real-life case involving a dog

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Netflix’s new thriller, The Rip, starts by telling viewers it’s based on a true story. This might make you curious about the real police raid on a drug stash house that caused a team of Miami detectives to question each other’s trustworthiness.

While The Rip isn’t based on a specific true story, it’s inspired by a real case—one that actor Chris Casiano, who plays Detective Al Pardo, actually worked on.

You might be surprised to learn that the idea of a dog being able to smell money, featured in The Rip, isn’t actually made up. It’s a real phenomenon!

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The Rip true story explained

Joe Carnahan, the writer and director of The Rip, got the idea for the film from his friendship with Casiano, a former leader of a tactical narcotics team. They had collaborated before on Bad Boys for Life, which Carnahan helped write.

Carnahan shared with Netflix, for the movie’s background information, that he’d heard a story before about someone discovering $24 million hidden inside the walls of another man’s house.

While developing The Rip, Casiano and Carnahan constantly shared ideas, and a real event sparked the show’s central question of ‘who can you trust.’ Casiano noticed cameras during the raid, which led to a suspenseful plot where viewers question everyone’s motives – are the police corrupt, or will the cartel arrive and cause a massacre? He explained this to Netflix.

In a conversation with Gold Derby, Carnahan explained that when Chris showed him photos of containers removed from the wall, he was amazed. Chris then realized they needed to physically count the contents on location. Apparently, this process requires a double-count in reality, and it took Chris 42 hours to complete.

I was really drawn in by how visually striking it was, and a lot of it just clicked with me. I’m a big fan of police stories and movies, so I decided to give this one a chance.

In the movie’s raid scene, the team discovers money hidden in the house thanks to their dog, whose intense barking indicated a large sum was present. Surprisingly, this isn’t a plot device – it’s actually based on a true story.

Carnahan described how, both in the film and in reality, the dog became incredibly excited when outdoors. He found this particularly unusual, saying he’d never seen anything like it in a police story before.

The Rip is available to watch now on Netflix.

The latest issue of Living Legends is now available, and it’s dedicated to the incredible Dolly Parton! You can purchase ‘Dolly at 80’ at newsagents or online for only £8.99.

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2026-01-16 19:53