Ben Affleck Smoking in a Face Mask Personifies Existential Dread

Yesterday, pap shots of the actor on a walk with girlfriend Ana de Armas began to surface online. And while they were obviously attempting to practice proper protocol by wearing their face masks, Affleck also wasn't about to let his get in the way of his cigarette.

Related | 11 Times Leonardo DiCaprio Acted Through Smoking

In the photos, Affleck can be seen defeating the entire purpose of said face mask by rolling it up to only cover his nose as he puffed away, meaning it didn't take long for his misery to become the talk of Twitter.

"Ben Affleck gonna be the last man standing at the end of this apocalypse," as one person said. Meanwhile, others appeared to be more impressed by the aesthetic of Affleck's contemplative sadness. "Simply masterful," as Elle's Katherine Krueger so eloquently put it.

Ben Affleck gonna be the last man standing at the end of this apocalypse pic.twitter.com/WPdJEshhdo

— reesh (@KrisJennerTD) April 24, 2020

Gotta respect the full Ben affleck pandemic lean in pic.twitter.com/vGgHKoa3aC

— tom_tuna (@tom_tuna) April 24, 2020

simply masterful pic.twitter.com/hUCEquhVwq

— Katherine Krueger (@kath_krueger) April 24, 2020

However, the overwhelming online consensus seemed to be focused on his perennial attitude of uneasy malaise. Drawing parallels between this latest cig and his other despair-filled smokes, it didn't take long for the internet to herald him as the personification of existential dread.

"Finally another photo to add to the ben affleck smoking through the pain of existence canon," one commenter quipped, while artist David Rudnick joked, "Ben Affleck's principal body of work – a soul-destroying practice where he forces himself to exist in public as the manifest embodiment of absolute male misery – is one of the strongest of any living artist."

finally another photo to add to the ben affleck smoking through the pain of existence canon pic.twitter.com/Pk2WNMTbzD

— emma (@emamma_mia) April 24, 2020

Ben Affleck's principal body of work – a soul-destroying practice where he forces himself to exist in public as the manifest embodiment of absolute male misery – is one of the strongest of any living artist pic.twitter.com/ERwyh6nkMv

— ཊལབསརངཧ (@David_Rudnick) April 24, 2020

one day these paparazzi photos of ben affleck will be taught in art school pic.twitter.com/hwUR757Emj

— internet baby (@kirkpate) April 24, 2020

Can you really blame him though? See all the photos of Affleck in all his existential angst via BuzzFeed.

Photo via Getty