Jeremy Saulnier’s Rebel Ridge is one of the year’s best movies. I’ve thought about it frequently over the last few months, finding a deep well of things to appreciate. I looked back through our archives to read what the team thought, only to realize that our conversations all happened in Slack. It didn’t seem right to not have anything on the site for a movie we are collectively jazzed about.
Rebel Ridge is likely the most exciting movie about civil forfeiture you’ll see. In one of the breakout, and best, performances of the year, Aaron Pierre plays plays Terry, a former Marine. Terry’s on his way to bail his brother out of jail when he gets stopped by a couple of officers who steal his money under the guise of civil forfeiture. Terry then has to square off with the overwhelming corruption within local law enforcement, led by Chief Sandy (Don Johnson). As with his previous films, Saulnier takes a simple premise and squeezes every bit of dramatic juice he can get from it.
After a six year gap since Hold the Dark, Saulnier looks sharper than ever as a craftsman. His writing remains as lean and muscular as ever. The relative lack of exposition makes the reveals much more surprising. He really leans into the idea of letting the audience find out things at the same time as the characters. As a director, Saulnier has always had good instincts for action and building tension. With Rebel Ridge, the thing I want to shout out is the editing. Saulnier knows exactly when moments need to breathe and when brevity is best. Nearly every cut lands with maximum effect. The conversations between Terry and Chief Sandy are the best example of this. Both men are smart and patient. When they square off, it’s electric. They don’t say more than they need to, waiting to see if the other will slip up and reveal too much. Both characters have multiple cards up their sleeve, waiting for the exact right moment to play them.
There’s an early scene between the two where Chief Sandy thinks he has the upper hand. Meanwhile, a couple of his subordinates are inside the station watching and looking up Terry to figure out who this guy is. The scene moves between the inside and outside of the station like a boxer working around the ring, smooth and disciplined. As the conversation outside heightens, the information being revealed inside supercharges the scene. Saulnier’s script has a few of these scenes where he lets the words and silences of the characters serve as the film’s action. It’s notable because Rebel Ridge is the least violent film in Saulnier’s filmography by a wide margin. It’s a cool choice, a departure from the gnarly imagery found in Green Room or Hold the Dark. Rebel Ridge is better off because of it.
One last thing to call out is the acting. The cast is great across the board, with Johnson and AnnaSophia Robb bringing the heat in key supporting roles. But, this is Aaron Pierre’s show. In a just world, this would be a star making performance. Terry has a preternatural calmness to him. Terry is a character that operates at maximum efficiency. He doesn’t say or do more than is necessary and he’s the kind of character who has the upper hand in nearly every situation. Pierre’s work here is transfixing. Hopefully we’ll be seeing him headlining more films very soon.
As 2024 closes out and lists upon lists are made and awards handed out, here’s one last shout for Rebel Ridge so it doesn’t get completely lost in the shuffle of the Netflix algorithm. Saulnier is one of the most consistent filmmakers going and he is getting better as he goes along. And that’s worth celebrating.
Rebel Ridge is streaming on Netflix
