Netflix's Rebel Ridge Trailer Looks Like A Modern Rambo (In A Good Way)

Heads up, folks: One of the best trailers of 2024 has just dropped.

Jeremy Saulnier, the writer/director behind films like "Green Room" and "Blue Ruin," has returned with "Rebel Ridge," a movie about a guy who is trying to bail his cousin out of jail, but whose life savings is unjustly taken from him by small-town police officers who seem to operate with impunity. After calmly explaining his case and trying to get his money back, the man takes things into his own hands — and that's when the cops realize they've made a huge mistake: The dude they're harassing used to be a Marine, and he has no intention of meekly putting his tail between his legs and slinking away from this situation. Quite the opposite, actually: The guy becomes a one-man wrecking crew hellbent on justice, and he's going to make them regret ever messing with him in the first place.

Aaron Pierre, who was excellent in Barry Jenkins' "The Underground Railroad," stars in this film, replacing actor John Boyega, who left the project because of family reasons one month into production. Sometimes when I watch a trailer after learning about a scenario like that during production, I find myself parsing through the footage and trying to see if evidence of the problem is clear in the footage; thankfully, this trailer is so good that I didn't even think about it once. Pierre looks incredible here, bringing an impressive physicality and intensity to a role that could help him break out in mainstream way. (He also played Mid-Sized Sedan in M. Night Shyamalan's "Old" and will be voicing Mufasa in Jenkins' upcoming "Mufasa: The Lion King," so the guy has range!)

Have there been enough articles over the years assuring people that "First Blood," the very first Rambo movie, is actually a legitimately grounded story about the struggles of PTSD and a veteran reintegrating into society, as opposed to the cartoonish, shoot-'em-up nonsense the sequels devolved into? Either way, allow me to make that assertion one more time and encourage people to seek out that first film; it's fantastic. But even if you don't heed my recommendation, you might get a very similar vibe from "Rebel Ridge," which looks like it uses corrupt, power-hungry police characters in a comparable way. Of course, there's a big difference: Aaron Pierre is obviously a Black man and Sylvester Stallone's John Rambo is white, so there's going to be a much greater imbalance in the dynamic between Pierre's character and this movie's top cop, played by Don Johnson ("Knives Out," "Watchmen") than the one between Rambo and the "First Blood" chief played by Brian Dennehy.

Jeremy Saulnier's previous film, "Hold the Dark," was also made for Netflix, but that one came out way back in 2018, which feels like a lifetime ago. Here's hoping there isn't another six year gap between "Rebel Ridge" and whatever his next feature film ends up being.

"Rebel Ridge" hits Netflix on September 6, 2024, and co-stars AnnaSophia Robb, David Denman, Emory Cohen, James Cromwell, and more.