Jeremy Saulnier (Green Room) writes, directs and edits new action-thriller Rebel Ridge. Steve Newall is impressed by this Netflix First Blood riff – and its star Aaron Pierre.
Rebel Ridge
There ought to be some kind of police training programme for this. Time and time again on screen, small town cops pick the wrong guy to fuck with—and, before you know it, we’ve got another First Blood on our hands.
According to that description, Rebel Ridge is another First Blood too—to our good fortune, it’s an excellent one. Opening with Iron Maiden’s The Number of the Beast certainly doesn’t hurt, commencing proceedings with an energy that’s channeled by director Jeremy Saulnier (the superb Blue Ruin and Green Room) into tension, simmering anger, and adrenaline as the film unfolds.
With the New Wave of British Heavy Metal icons blasting in his earbuds, the opening shot of Rebel Ridge introduces us to Terry Richmond—played by star-in-the-making Aaron Pierre (himself an English thesp). Terry is cycling through the countryside at pace, a destination locked into his phone, and a determined look fixed in the distance—but he doesn’t hear the police car with its lights on behind him over his metal playlist, and within moments, they’ve run him off the road.
Highly relevant to mention: Terry is Black, we’re in small town Alabama, and the Shelby Springs police are about to discover a wad of cash on Terry in a tense, but depressingly realistic, questioning of their “suspect”.
Despite Terry’s protestations—the cash isn’t drug money, he can account for it, and it’s to bail his cousin out of jail urgently before he’s hurt or killed—the officers seize the $36,000 he is carrying. He’s welcome to fight the asset forfeiture in court, Terry is told. But it’s not going to get his cousin out of jail in time, nor is it likely to be recovered in the future (soon Terry’s being told that it will cost him double this amount in legal fees to win it back).
Saulnier writes, directs and edits here, and knows exactly what he’s setting out to accomplish throughout—from the film’s well-staged action to darker dramatic moments (and the odd welcome injection of levity). Wasting little time on setup, we’re invested in Terry, even with little knowledge of his backstory.
As he (initially) takes the reasonable approach, Terry’s charm, confidence and strategy deployed in negotiations with Don Johnson’s police chief suggest competence enough. And when things get more and more heated, we see the combat skills that, when paired with his physique and disciplined approach, make Terry way too formidable an opponent.
John Boyega was originally set to play Terry, before bailing during filming. Unbelievably, this chaotic turn of events, one that could easily have sunk the film, has turned out to Rebel Ridge’s benefit. Aaron Pierre is a charismatic presence, and its impossible to picture Boyega bringing as much to the role. Pierre is superb at the various sparring the film requires—whether that’s impressive hand-to-hand combat and firearms skills, or squaring off in (verbal) pissing contests with the ever-reliable Don Johnson.
The pair make a great match for one another as they circling, skirmish, and grapple for leverage. And the shithead cops that work for the chief are appropriately irritating bullies too. Emory Cohen in particular, having captured ACAB tone, and way too good at the infuriating posture of threateningly hooking his hands in the collar of his tactical vest—you know it when you see it.
Adding to the modern Western setup are fresh dynamics. First Blood may have looked at how the US treats its damaged servicemen (and for a moment I thought Rebel Ridge may be heading in the same direction)—here the racist realities of policing and the overmilitarisation of local police forces come to the fore. Not sanctimoniously, it must be said. It’s all in service of an arm wrestle (but one that has the potential for fatal consequences).
Measured, confident, and blessed with fantastic performances, this is a superb new film from the ever-reliable Saulnier. And there’s something to look forward to—he’s already talking about working with Aaron Pierre again.
