From the masterful writer/director Jeremy Saulnier (Green Room, Blue Ruin, Hold the Dark) comes Rebel Ridge, the story of ex-Marine Terry Richmond (Aaron Pierre, The Underground Railroad), who comes to a small town on his bike on an urgent family matter and is almost immediately embroiled in some shady and dangerous dealing with local law enforcement, led by police chief Sandy Burnne (Don Johnson) and his overly armed underlings. He’s run off the road by a squad car he didn’t hear behind him because he had earbuds in, and they immediately search him and find a great deal of cash in his backpack that he’s taking to the local courthouse to bail out his cousin who's being held on misdemeanor drug possession. The police take his cash and possible drug money and tell him he has to file a claim to get it back, but if Terry doesn’t bail out his cousin, very bad things will happen to him in prison.
Terry attempts to confront Chief Burnne directly and the chief is so insulted that Terry even thinks he’s in a position to bargain that he sends him on a wild goose chase to get his cousin out. Terry gets some help from court clerk Summer McBride (AnnaSophia Robb, Soul Surfer), who has both her reasons for helping him and more reasons for not wanting to be discovered helping him. But soon, the pair are neck deep in trouble with law enforcement. It’s only then that Terry’s actual role in the military is revealed, and it becomes clear that it’s the police who need to be worried.
Like all of Saulnier’s films, Rebel Ridge has its roots in 1970s b-movie action titles, loaded with crooked cops whose defining trait is more than a tinge of racism. Pierre is an absolute superstar here, capable of a certain type of fighting style that is rarely seen in modern actioners and makes the resulting work so suspenseful because we’re never quite sure how he’s going to get out of each new, seemingly inescapable situation. Even the reveal of his military training is handled brilliantly, with the perfect combination of editing, writing, and performance.
There are also great supporting performances from the likes of David Denman and Emory Cohen as two of Johnson’s underlings, one of whom is more complex than we first realize; Steve Zissis as Summer’s boss who wants to help her when things get tough but is too much of a coward at heart; and James Cromwell as a judge working with Johnson's Burnne but whose conscience has gotten the best of him.
As it turns out, Terry’s greatest asset isn’t his unique fighting abilities; it’s his patience and calm demeanor, both of which combine to make his adversaries doubt that he’s a threat—which is, of course, another way that racism factors so intrinsically into this beautifully weaved story about small-town corruption and seeking justice for one’s family. Summer gets caught up in Terry’s revenge plans, and although he couldn’t protect his cousin, he might be able to save her from complicated but still understandable dangers that seek to take them both out in order to keep a massive secret.
Rebel Ridge is the type of film that couldn’t unspool fast enough (no, that’s not me saying it’s slow; it definitely is not); I found myself desperate to discover what was going to happen next and how Terry and Summer could possibly survive what was so eager destroy them. The pacing and plotting is meticulous and wonderfully detail oriented. Saulnier keeps his action believable and grounded, while making every injury and wound as painful as humanly possible. This is easily one of the best films (action or otherwise) that I’ve seen this year, and I can’t wait to watch it again.
The film is now streaming on Netflix.
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