Banner image Aaron Pierre as Terry Richmond in Rebel Ridge. Cr. Allyson Riggs/Netflix © 2024
Over the past decade, writer-director Jeremy Saulnier’s work has received mixed praise. His dark revenge thriller Blue Ruin became a festival circuit darling in 2013, and Green Room, a savage tale of a punk band facing off against neo-Nazis was equally lauded by critics. However, his 2018 adaptation of William Giraldi’s novel Hold the Dark didn’t resonate as positively with audiences.
That said, Saulnier returns to form this September with Rebel Ridge, an intelligently controlled action-thriller that eschews easy resolutions.
Brixton-born up-and-comer Aaron Pierre stars as Terry Richmond, a mysterious ex-marine who’s cycling into the sleepy Southern town of Shelby Springs to post bail for his cousin. But, en route, a pair of gung-ho police officers seize his cash via a shockingly legal loophole. Richmond is a Jack Reacher/John Rambo-esque figure, only sweatier, since he spends the film’s first half charging around on a bicycle.
Anxious to see his cousin released before he’s transferred to a dangerous penitentiary, Terry teams up with a local court clerk (AnnaSophia Robb) to get his money back. However, they’re soon drawn into a conspiracy that puts them at odds with the town’s corrupt police chief (Don Johnson) and his squad of trigger-happy thugs.
Don Johnson as Chief Sandy Burnne and Aaron Pierre as Terry Richmond in Rebel Ridge. Cr. Allyson Riggs/Netflix © 2024
First things first, Rebel Ridge isn’t an all-out action flick. It’s a slow burn, with the promise of confrontation lurking beneath the surface like an alligator in a muddy Louisiana bayou. Saulnier isn’t in a hurry, and he makes this clear from the very first scene: a fraught, drawn-out confrontation where Terry is assaulted, detained, and processed by the cops.
This measured approach is evident in how the film skillfully addresses its racial themes. As he navigates Shelby Springs’ dishonourable legal system, Terry encounters a spectrum of prejudice – from his initial experience being profiled at the side of the road to bigoted assumptions from small-fry bureaucrats.
While these issues are ever-present in Rebel Ridge, they’re never directly acknowledged by any of the characters. Instead, Saulnier lets the instances speak for themselves, causing what’s unsaid to build a palpably uncomfortable atmosphere, and demonstrating that, while institutionalised racism can be less overt in modern policing, it remains there, unseen, like a heavy undertow below the surface of still water.
Aaron Pierre as Terry Richmond in Rebel Ridge. Cr. Allyson Riggs/Netflix © 2024
Pierre is excellent and matches Saulnier’s restrained narrative style with a thoughtful, understated performance as the steely-eyed former military man. In many ways, Terry is an anti-action hero. While he fits the bill physically, and can certainly throw down when he needs to, he remains relatively calm in the face of frequent injustices, constantly seeking avenues to settle the matter without violence.
The tension mounts as he’s pushed further and further, making the explosive, excellently choreographed fight scenes (when they eventually come) particularly enthralling. The final stand-off, pervaded by grenade smoke and a pulsing, horror-like score is about as intense as they come.
Even when the plot comes to a head, Saulnier doesn’t fall back on the brutal violence showcased in his earlier works like Green Room and Blue Ruin. And while I found myself respecting the writer-director’s refusal to take the easy road to resolution (i.e. having his muscled leading man take out his adversaries one by one Rambo-style), some viewers may be left wishing Terry was a little more wrathful in his handling of the dirty small-town police force.
However, as it stands, Rebel Ridge chooses to take an optimistic view of humanity, showcasing a more empathetic and inspiring route to conflict resolution by which people can band together to deliver the proper form of justice, even if they were implicit in it to begin with. While this might not jive with more action-minded audiences, upon reflection, it seems the more radical and poignant decision from a plot perspective.
AnnaSophia Robb as Summer McBride in Rebel Ridge. Cr. Netflix © 2024
As far as the supporting players go, AnnaSophia Robb does a decent job as Terry’s morally upstanding ally with a complicated past, and Don Johnson is, as you might expect, effective as the sinister lawman. But we were left wanting more of veteran character actor James Cromwell, who gets little more than a single scene to shine as the town’s judge.
Cromwell’s near-absence is also indicative of Rebel Ridge’s incomplete investigation of the murky areas of complicity. In some of the film’s most compelling scenes (such as Cromwell’s), Saulnier poses the question: ‘How guilty are those who simply turn a blind eye to injustice?’ But the filmmaker’s hesitance to thoroughly explore or answer it is somewhat frustrating. That said, this might be a big ask for a movie whose number one priority is to entertain, which Rebel Ridge does and does well.
Overall, Rebel Ridge is a refreshing, compelling, and deftly directed action thriller that predicts a glittering career for its star Aaron Pierre.
Rebel Ridge premieres on Netflix on the 6th of September 2024.
Have you seen Rebel Ridge? Or are you planning on watching it? We’d love to hear from you in the comments below.