Rebel Ridge Review: A Killer Action Thriller That Masterfully Builds Tension

One month into production, Jeremy Saulnier's new Netflix movie "Rebel Ridge" lost its star. Saulnier, who broke out in a big way with his second feature "Blue Ruin" and followed it up with the equally memorable "Green Room," had cast "Star Wars" actor John Boyega as the lead of his new action thriller. But then Boyega left the production, citing family reasons. It seemed like a devastating blow: Boyega is an extremely talented actor, and the prospect of him working with a filmmaker like Saulnier was exciting. But now that "Rebel Ridge" is finally here, I can say that things worked out perfectly for the film, because Boyega's replacement, Aaron Pierre, is a movie star in the making. Pierre has appeared in Barry Jenkins' acclaimed Prime Video series "The Underground Railroad," and had a brief but memorable turn as rapper Mid-Sized Sedan in M. Night Shyamalan's deliciously silly thriller "Old," but "Rebel Ridge" feels like the movie that will launch him into the stratosphere. He's electric here, commanding the screen with a tense physicality and a magnetic presence. We can't take our eyes off this guy; every move he makes has our attention.

The only potential wrench in this star-making performance is the fact that "Rebel Ridge" is destined to go right to Netflix instead of theaters. It has been said that we don't really have movie stars anymore, not in the old fashioned sense at least, and I think the fact that so many movies get dumped onto streaming these days has something to do with that. You can't help but think that if "Rebel Ridge" had come out more than a decade ago, and played in movie theaters across the country, Pierre would've blown up in a big way. I can only hope "Rebel Ridge" doesn't fall victim to Netflix's dreaded algorithm and get lost in the shuffle, because this baby deserves an audience. Saulnier, who specializes in movies about how violence begets violence, has crafted a meticulously engaging action thriller that builds, and builds, and builds. The first hour in particular is among one of the finest things Saulnier has created: a tense, fat-free, no-nonsense chain of events that draw us deeper and deeper into a story of one man with a particular set of skills pushed to the edge.

In press notes for the film, Saulnier speaks of "Rebel Ridge" as a throwback. "As a filmmaker, I dig grounded '80s and '90s action films that not only deliver on spectacle, but succeed in tying on-screen mayhem to a real and true emotional component," the director said. "Smaller scale, bigger impact. Less veneer, less artificiality. They're rooted in a 'kick up the dust' level of craft and authenticity that I don't see often in the current space, and I was interested in making a film more like that." It will be easy to compare "Rebel Ridge," which is ultimately about a military man facing off against villainous cops, to the original "Rambo" film, "First Blood." There are also shades of the first season of Prime Video's hit series "Reacher," as well as every Western you can think of about a mysterious gunslinger who rides into a small town and bucks up against the law. But Saulnier isn't being derivative. He's putting his own unique spin on this sort of story, and the results are killer.

As "Rebel Ridge" begins, Pierre's character, Terry Richmond, is riding his bike into the small Southern town of Shelby Springs. Wearing earbuds, Terry is unaware that a cop car is slowly creeping up behind him. And then — WHAM! The car deliberately hits Terry, knocking him off his bike. Immediately, we are tense. Terry is a Black man in a small Southern town, suddenly being confronted by cops. Terry knows the deal: he's as calm and courteous as he can possibly be. He shows unwarranted respect to the cops who get out of the car and confront him, even though they were clearly in the wrong. Terry's deference to these lawmen doesn't have the intended effect, though: they cuff him and search him, and are surprised to find a paper bag full of a large sum of money. All the money Terry has in the world. 

Terry calmly and sensibly explains that the cash is bail money: his cousin has recently been arrested, and Terry has serious reason to believe that if the cousin is transferred from the county jail to prison, his life will be in danger. Terry is clearly telling the truth, but the cops willfully refuse to buy it. Instead, they agree to let Terry go with a warning — and keep his money in the process. They tell him he can try to file a claim to get the money back, but it will likely do no good: no matter what Terry tries here, the cops are going to walk away with his cash. Terry has one of two options here: he can admit defeat and walk away a free man, or he can do everything in his power to get that money back.

Simply walking away wouldn't result in much of a movie, so Terry heads into town to try to find someone who will listen to reason. He speaks to court clerk Summer (AnnaSophia Robb), who is sympathetic but tells him he's more or less screwed. He also confronts the local good old boy police chief, Sandy Burnne, played with perfect grinning menace by Don Johnson. Burnne seems like he's willing to strike a deal with Terry, but then quickly shows his true, vile colors. Time and time again, Terry tries to do the right thing. He's calm, he's collected, he's cool. He doesn't want to cause a ruckus. But we know where this is building. We've seen too many movies to not know that sooner or later, the law is going to push Terry too far, and when we learn he's an ex-Marine who specializes in kicking ass, we shudder with anticipation of the bloodshed to come. But Saulnier isn't playing by the same tired old action movie rules here. He's trying something different. 

To say more would enter spoiler territory, so I'll tread carefully. What you need to know is that while "Rebel Ridge" is an action movie, the action is different than what we've come to expect from most Hollywood fare these days. For one thing, when Terry engages in hand-to-hand confrontations with characters, it looks rough and raw. These aren't the highly choreographed fight scenes of the "John Wick" franchise — they're sloppy and clumsy, which is what actual fights tend to look like in the real world. On top of that, Saulnier is deliberately avoiding a certain kind of bloodshed that we've come to expect — and a part of me wonders how that will go over with some viewers. When you strip "Rebel Ridge" down to its brass tacks, it's ultimately a movie about a Black man facing off against not just corrupt cops, but an inherently corrupt system. Saulnier's script doesn't overtly paint the cops as virulent racists, but the implications are there. As a result, there's a kind of implied catharsis in the idea of seeing a highly capable, highly skilled Black man fighting these creeps. But Saulnier seems to have designed the film to subvert our base need to see Terry lay waste to everyone who dares to push him too far. The fact that Saulnier has primarily made movies about violent men doing violent things only heightens our expectations. 

That's not to say "Rebel Ridge" denies us the pleasures of watching Terry beat the living hell out of some people. The action is a release; it's a full boil after a slow simmer. Saulnier is deliberately building the tension here, and the first hour of the film, where Terry comes to town and finds trouble at every turn, no matter how hard he tries to avoid it, is dynamic and exciting. Indeed, this first hour works so well that the back half of the film suffers slightly as a result — Saulnier can only build things up for so long before he has to start paying them off, and the pay off isn't quite as engaging as the build. 

Despite this, "Rebel Ridge" delivers the goods. Pierre is the film's true weapon, and the movie wouldn't work nearly as well as it does without his cool-as-hell performance. The actor has striking eyes, and Saulnier realizes this, using lots of close-ups of Terry's face as he silently works things out. Terry seems to be constantly weighing the odds in his head, calculating his next step with pinpoint precision. Because of Pierre's deliberate performance, we can sense the gears turning in his mind. "Rebel Ridge" perfectly showcases the skills of its director and star. Saulnier is very, very good at what he does, and so is Pierre, and the two of them working together has produced explosive results. Don't let "Rebel Ridge" slip through the Netflix cracks. 

/Film Rating: 8 out of 10

"Rebel Ridge" is streaming on Netflix on September 6, 2024.