Rebel Ridge – A Strong Action Thriller (Early Review)

Rebel Ridge is Jeremy Saulnier’s fifth feature film and his first in 6 years. Set in the small town of Shelby Springs, Terry Richmond (Pierre) arrives to post bail for his cousin, but on his way to the courthouse his savings are unjustly seized by a corrupt local police force led by Chief Sandy Burnne (Johnson). With the help of court clerk Summer McBride (Robb), Terry unearths a widespread conspiracy within Shelby Springs and uses his particular set of “skills” to get the bail money back by any means necessary. In the end, the film delivers a solid action thriller led by a phenomenal lead performance from Pierre in what is no doubt going to be a star-making role. Not only is it one of Netflix’s best films of 2024, it is also one of the best and most thrilling films of the year so far.

Already ranking high in Saulnier’s filmography, up there with such highlights as Green Room and Blue Ruin, is also marks a stark improvement over his first collaboration with Netflix, Hold the Dark. He just knows how to build tension extremely well without rushing anything, taking his time to let it escalate to their fullest before any of the action even starts. Keeping a neo-western vibe throughout, while certain elements of its plot may be familiar or compared to something like First Blood and others, it takes a unique and different approach that makes it truly stand out with some social commentary and relevant themes also sprinkled in.

Starting things off, the opening scene is utterly fantastic and perfectly sets the tone for what’s to come but the film only gets more gripping from there and doesn’t let up until the closing credits. While perhaps not as action heavy as one might expect, the film’s action scenes are all fantastic with some nice hand to hand combat to boot as audiences will be left holding their collective breath from to the underlying tension. Though not nearly as violent or graphic as Saulnier’s early work, he still gets in some good hits in and a few are sure to induce some squirms.

There’s a lot to love about Rebel Ridge, but by far, the best is Pierre’s fantastic lead performance. He simply commands the screen from the first frame and has such a quiet intensity about him that makes Terry both fascinating and extremely intimidating while highlighting the good intentions and motivations that make him stand out from a long line of similar action protagonists who merely kill or cause destruction. On the other side, Johnson makes for a formidable villain, bringing more layers to Burnne than what one would initially expect.

The growing tension and the heated nature of the dynamic between Terry and Burnne only works as well as it did because of the fantastic chemistry of Pierre and Johnson, who scenes are among the film’s best. Meanwhile, Emory Cohen is becoming one of this generation’s more recognizable character actors and he’s once again great at playing the unlikeable and despicable Officer Steve Lann. Johnson may be playing the main antagonist, but Cohen’s Lann is the one audiences will want to see get their comeuppance solely for how Cohen chews up the scenery. Rounding out the supporting cast, David Denman (Officer Evan Marston) and James Cromwell (Judge) are both strong while Zsané Jhé really impresses as Officer Jessica Sims.

That being said, Rebel Ridge was not without its issues, however, none come close to tanking it. While the film moves at a good pace, its 2+ hour runtime can still be felt as it is arguably too long albeit slightly. Also, its second half isn’t quite as strong as its first, as Summer is more integral to the plot. Though Robb is fine, Summer isn’t a well-written character and her storyline isn’t nearly as interesting as Terry’s. Ultimately, the film is at its best whenever Pierre’s Terry is a one man army, and that element is lessened comes the second half. Ending on a strong note, it also feels a bit too abrupt.

Even with a few nitpicks, Rebel Ridge is pretty damn great, and is definitely worth watching once it hits Netflix. It’s a shame that the film was not given a theatrical release because it would have played well with a crowd as a watch that belongs on the big screen. Hopefully, it is a film that will be beloved by audience and become huge hit. It will definitely be interesting to see what Jeremy Saulnier does next but hopefully, it won’t take nearly as long.

still courtesy of Netflix

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Connor Carey

www.connorsmoviereviews.com/