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Which ‘Triple Frontier’ Guy Are You?

Every person in a friend group is either a Redfly, a Pope, an Ironhead, a Catfish, or a Benny—here’s how to figure out which one applies to you
Netflix/Ringer illustration

There are many reasons “getting the gang together” movies are so enjoyable: They’re an excuse to stage a reunion and put a handful of ridiculously charismatic actors in the same room. There’s also something so objectively pleasing about the notion that a complex problem can be solved by assembling a team of people who have specific skills and set roles. But perhaps the most appealing aspect of putting together a gang is that in doing so, these movies present viewers with a wide palette of personalities with which to identify; taken as a whole, these gangs represent our own friend groups. Even if you and your friends don’t often come up with plans to rob Terry Benedict’s casinos, Ocean’s Eleven still feels relatable, as each friend group has the suave one (Danny), the cool smartass (Rusty), and the one nobody’s ever really liked that much but who’s stuck around nonetheless (Linus).

Triple Frontier checks all these boxes. J.C. Chandor’s Netflix movie brings together five friends and former Special Forces operatives as they plot to steal millions of dollars from a Brazilian drug lord, putting their tactical skills to use after the U.S. government has chewed them up and spit them out. It’s incredibly enjoyable, due in large part to the group being composed of Ben Affleck, Oscar Isaac, Charlie Hunnam, Pedro Pascal, and Garrett Hedlund—a murderers’ row of actors you want to spend time with. It is also the movie that gave us this photo of Affleck’s back tattoo, and for that it will always be an American treasure. But the primary joy of the film is that reflective feeling of wondering which member of the group represents you most.

This isn’t the easiest exercise, however: Each character in Triple Frontier is … a rich text. So to help you decide which Triple Frontier character you are, I’ve put together these breakdowns—dossiers, if you will—as well as a set of questions that should help you figure out whether you’re an Ironhead or a Redfly. We’ll go in the order that the characters first appear.

William “Ironhead” Miller (Charlie Hunnam)

Personality Traits: Manipulative, emotionally fragile, chokes people in grocery stores, a good brother, extremely British but posing as American, counts “everything,” follows rules and orders, wistful.

Most Apt Screengrab:

All screenshots via Netflix

Though all of the main characters in Triple Frontier are experiencing some level of PTSD, William Miller (which is also the name of the main character in Almost Famous, which I found distracting) seems to be affected in the most traditional sense. Without the strictures of army life, he’s lost. He’s volatile; he’s introspective; but most importantly, he’s acutely aware of his broken state. But it should also be noted that he may be the only truly honorable man in this group: At the end of the movie, he’s the one to suggest that all of the money go to Redfly’s family. No other guy had really considered being altruistic until they saw him do it.

Are You William Miller?

  • Are you a follower?
  • Would you, among your group of friends, be the first one to get shot?
  • Have you ever emerged from a blackout with your arms around someone’s neck in a Publix because they refused to move their cart?
  • Do you frequently get nostalgic, even for objectively bad times?
  • Are you, without a doubt, the best-looking member of your group?
  • Are you constantly keeping tabs on your bros’ belongings, making sure they don’t leave anything behind?

If you answered “yes” to more than 60 percent of these questions, I’m sorry, but you are William Miller.

Santiago “Pope” Garcia (Oscar Isaac)

Personality Traits: A leader, mixes business with pleasure, wildly connected, a low-key socialist, a liar, overly aspirational and confident, keeps promises, repentant.

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Pope is the one who comes up with the plan to raid Gabriel Martin Lorea’s house and steal all of his money, and thus, Pope is the one who “gets the gang together.” That is his most essential quality—the ability to unite a disparate group of people for an activity—but there are also other smaller things to note, such as the fact that he seems to be the only member of the group who’s adjusted to postwar life, and, beyond wanting to get rich himself, he seems to have more principled reasons for robbing Lorea. The guy genuinely has concerns about the trickle-down effects of Brazil’s cartel problem on everyday citizens.

Are You Santiago Garcia?

  • Do you know people—like, would you be able to quickly link up with a lawyer who would be able to legally get you out of a country after you’ve toppled the power structure of its underground world? Or an offshore bank that would store your stolen money and also offer direct deposit?
  • Do you frequently lie to close friends to get them to go along with your plans?
  • Would you wear jeans to a raid?
  • Do you listen to Metallica as hype music?
  • Do you give awesome speeches?
  • Have you ever said, “This is my last one,” knowing full well that it certainly is not your last one?
  • Do you have bad knees?
  • Have you ever convinced yourself that a plan is going to work, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary?

If you answered “yes” to more than 60 percent of these questions, you are Santiago Garcia. Congratulations—this is relatively ideal, even if you will eventually get all of your friends killed.

Tom “Redfly” Davis (Ben Affleck)

Personality Traits: Heavy breathing, being Too Old for This Shit, a leader, not a good dad but would like to be a better dad—if only The World would let him, fulfilled only when working, willing to renege on promises, very open to cold-blooded murder.

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To put this as simply as possible: Tom is just a big giant idiot, really. And it’s pretty sad. A leader in the service, he’s lost all authority and capability in his civilian life. His divorce was so bad that he’s allowed only in the garage of his home, and he admits that he truly feels like himself only when he has a gun in his hand. But he’s also greedy, blustering, and immune to reason. There are several times in Triple Frontier when a member of the group is like, “We need to change the plan or else things are going to get fucked up,” and Tom replies, practically with dollar signs in his eyes, “No! Money! Me want all the money! We got this!” And then it quickly turns out that they do not, in fact, got this.

Are You Tom Davis?

  • Do you keep a garage fridge stocked with Pabst Blue Ribbon?
  • After slamming a PBR while driving, do you then stop at a gas station to pick up another beer?
  • Are you terrible at selling condos?
  • Do you excel at being in charge of others, despite not being in charge of yourself?
  • Do you believe—quite wrongly—that 15-year-old girls aren’t capable of eavesdropping?
  • Do you have a reputation for “never missing a hard out”?
  • Does this reputation directly clash with an undying belief that you always have more time?
  • Are you a tragic figure destined to fall because of your own hubris?

If you answered “yes” to more than 60 percent of these questions, you are Tom Davis. I’ll let your daughters know that you were a good man.

Francisco “Catfish” Morales (Pedro Pascal)

Personality Traits: Easily persuaded, has a strong “no kids” rule, sensitive, actually smart and reasonable.

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That is not the face of a man who believes what he’s saying. (And what do ya know? About two minutes later, their helicopter crashes because what Catfish said was going to happen, happens.) But that’s who Catfish is: A guy who does all the stupid shit his friends want him to do, even though he knows it’s stupid.

Are You Francisco Morales?

  • Do you do cocaine?
  • Do you wear extremely “I do cocaine” shirts?
  • Have you ever literally said the words “This is not what I signed up for”?
  • Do you shoot too fast?
  • Are you the only actually smart person in your friend group?
  • When you mess up, do you—in hilariously frank terms—admit to your mistakes?

If you answered “yes” to more than 60 percent of these questions, you are Francisco Morales. Make sure you save me one of those Tommy Bahama shirts.

Ben Miller (Garrett Hedlund)

Personality Traits: Not cool enough for a nickname, boisterous, fearless, a low-level MMA fighter, a true bro, a good brother, likes Ferraris, laughs at donkey deaths.

Most Apt Screengrab:

William’s younger brother, Benny is the live wire of the group—their id. His emotions are still intact, frequent, and often explosive. He is the kind of person you’d love to be friends with, but probably hate if you weren’t friends with him. I have a few unanswered questions relating to Benny, though. First of all, was he part of this group in the service, or was he just ushered in through William? The fact that he doesn’t have a nickname—and that when talking to William, Pope one time refers to him as “your brother”—suggests that he’s something of an outsider. But he was definitely at least in the armed forces, as he describes himself as being one of the ones “going door-to-door to hold the line.”

Also, do all of these guys besides Pope live in the same town? Tom and Benny definitely do, because Tom’s daughter’s school is close enough to where Benny’s MMA fight takes place. But William and Catfish are also at the fight, and it doesn’t seem like they traveled from afar to be there. That’s weird, right? What are the chances that all of your buddies from the war are from the same place as you? Or did all of these guys pick a town and move there? Sorry, I’m getting off track.

Are You Ben Miller?

  • Do you think flexing is an appropriate way to greet people?
  • Are you the Flava Flav of your friend group?
  • Do you take a surprisingly large amount of pride in your work?
  • Do you address everyone as “boys” after basically every sentence you speak?
  • Are you extremely talented, yet still playing the clown to a bunch of a hillbillies?
  • When there is a mess, do you become noticeably distressed and yell, “We don’t leave messes!”
  • Would you give your friend a mango if he was hungry?
  • Are you weirdly attached to a hat?

If you answered “yes” to more than 60 percent of these questions, you are Ben Miller. Be proud—Benny is probably the best hang in this whole group.

Bonus Round: Gabriel Martin Lorea (Reynaldo Gallegos)

  • Do you hate banks?
  • Do you love church?

If you answered “yes” to 100 percent of these questions, guess what: You are Gabriel Martin Lorea. Don’t sweat it: Every group needs a devoutly religious villain with a distrust in financial institutions.

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