Rebel Ridge
A star is born in Jeremy Saulnier’s largely compelling thriller set in deepest racist Louisiana.
Rules of the game: Zsané Jhé and Aaron Pierre
Image courtesy of Netflix
Terry Richmond is cycling along the backroads of Louisiana with $36,000 stashed in his backpack. He’s just sold his car and his stake in a restaurant to raise the cash for his cousin’s bail. But with his eye glued to the e-map on his handlebars and his ears tuned to the sound of Iron Maiden, he is unaware of the patrol car directly behind him. Annoyed at being ignored, the cop drives Terry off the road and, joined by his colleague, confiscates Terry’s stash on suspicion of it being drug money, apprehending him for the “felony of evasion and conspiracy”. In the American South, there are few people more dangerous than a law enforcer willing to flout the law. Terry Richmond himself could not have been more civil, circumspect and measured under the circumstances, but the colour of his skin was a drawback.
The role of Terry Richmond was originally to have been played by John Boyega, but in the hazy years of the pandemic, Boyega was replaced by another English, London-born black actor, Aaron Pierre. Had Rebel Ridge been a touch less formulaic and more higher-profile, this would have been Pierre’s calling card for future stardom. He is the emotional core of the film, a muscular, empathetic and powerful screen presence, providing a human pulse to this century’s John Rambo of First Blood fame (ex-military hero battling prejudiced local cops). At first, Terry is forced to jump over all the tripwires of the sheriff department’s legalese. But Terry is not only strong and almost unnaturally patient and courteous, he is incredibly smart and judicious enough not to overstep his mark. However, he hadn’t reckoned on the bullish inflexibility of the police chief Sandy Burnne (an excellent Don Johnson, chewing his tobacco and the scenery with nonchalant derision).
But this is Aaron Pierre’s movie and the writer-director Jeremy Saulnier (Green Room) is respectful enough of his material to let the performances speak for themselves. Initially, Rebel Ridge feels almost European in its pared back drama and lack of music, allowing our indignation to boil along with the events in silence. Set in Louisiana in the present day, the film appears to know as much about the local bylaws as do Terry and Sandy Burnne, each pushing the narrative as far as they dare. Not everybody is innately hostile to the stranger, but the courthouse clerk Summer McBride (AnnaSophia Robb) is afraid of losing her job if she is seen to openly assist the outsider…
Unfortunately, Rebel Ridge (terrible title) loses its head in the third act, as the implausible joins forces with the inevitable. What began as a simple betrayal of justice turns into something far more complicated and far-fetched and when the cavalry arrives, the tension is lost. Even so, Saulnier has nailed the local colour well, be it the obesity of the police officers or the relentless patrol cars circling like buzzards. What at first looked like a film that had escaped from AppleTV+, though, ends up as just another slice of routine Netflix fodder.
JAMES CAMERON-WILSON
Cast: Aaron Pierre, Don Johnson, AnnaSophia Robb, David Denman, Emory Cohen, Steve Zissis, Zsané Jhé, Dana Lee, James Cromwell, CJ LeBlanc.
Dir Jeremy Saulnier, Pro Anish Savjani, Neil Kopp, Vincent Savino and Jeremy Saulnier, Screenplay Jeremy Saulnier, Ph David Gallego, Pro Des John P. Goldsmith and Ryan Warren Smith, Ed Jeremy Saulnier, Music Brooke Blair and Will Blair, Costumes Amanda Ford, Sound Mariusz Glabinski, Dialect coaches Judi Dickerson, Mary McDonald-Lewis and Maureen Brennan.
Filmscience/Bonneville Pictures-Netflix.
131 mins. USA. 2024. UK and US Rel: 6 September 2024. Cert. 15.
