Rebel Ridge (Jeremy Saulnier, Netflix, 2024)
Rebel Ridge, the fifth feature by American writer and director Jeremy Saulnier, is a great crime thriller, that should make a star out of its leading man Aaron Pierre.
You could almost describe Rebel Ridge as a western. A man called Terry Richmond (Aaron Pierre) rides into a little southern town called Shelby Springs, not on his horse but on his bicycle. But before he can get to the courthouse to post bail for his cousin, he is bumped to the ground by a cop car.
The cops search him under false pretenses and find the money, both for bail and for the new business he intends to start up with his cousin.
They keep the money on the suspicion that it’s drug related, something which is apparently legal in the United States, where it’s called ‘civil asset forfeiture’.
This event kicks the plot in motion. Terry is basically chased out of town, but he decides to fight back, any which way he can. Little do his opponent know that he is a former Marine, who is also a jiu-jitsu instructor.
Terry confronts the chief of police, Sandy, played with relish by Don Johnson, and gets help from Summer, a court clerk with a troubled past, played with conviction by AnnaSophia Robb.
Pretty soon things go from bad to worse, and it’s only a question of time who will draw First Blood (yes, this is a clear and present reference to the first and best Rambo movie, which seems to have informed this film).
Rebel Ridge contains (mostly) believable action scenes and tight thriller moments, as well as a few unexpectedly funny ones. It’s very well acted and expertly shot (by David Gallego) and edited (by Saulnier himself).
Aaron Pierre is in almost every scene and he carries the movie like an experienced movie star. The entire supporting cast comes highly recommended too.
Thematically, it’s an attack on corruption and systemic racism without depriving the bad guys of all humanity. They have their reasons, however entitled they may seem.
Still, you root for the good ones, no matter what.
The production of Rebel Ridge was apparently fraught with trouble, both COVID related and otherwise. But you wouldn’t know that, just looking the crispness of it all.
Jeremy Saulnier is a great filmmaker, who previously made acclaimed movies like Blue Ruin (2013), Green Room (2015) and his previous Netflix movie Hold The Dark (2018), which was perhaps the weakest of that threesome.
Rebel Ridge could have easily gone to the main competition at Venice and/or Toronto, and definitely should have been in theaters.
Still, where I live it’s already at number one on the Netflix chart, which at least means that people are seeing it.
So do yourself a favor, quit reading this review (it’s almost over anyway) and watch it as soon as possible.