
Out of all the films in Netflix’s growing ‘Rebel’ catalog, Rebel Ridge directed by Jeremy Saulnier seems to be the least edgy. It is a rather unsuspecting thriller, as it takes its time and engrosses you, to form the ideal dread just before the tension explodes. Most recognized for creating primal, grisly thrillers like A24’s Green Room, Saulnier once again manages to mesmerize us, but this time the heroic character is not the underdog but the stealthy intelligence who is waiting for the right time to strike.
The story starts with Aaron Pierre portraying Terry Richmond who effortlessly commands attention on screen. An ex-Marine and a skilled fighter in MMA and jiu-jitsu, Terry is captured by crooked cops in a quiet Louisiana town. What consists of him going into town on his bicycle soon turns into a red tape mess after he’s wrongfully arrested by two bad officers. These men tax his $36,000, which he had intended to use to secure his cousin’s release, making him susceptible to a system that is just as brutal and efficient in its self-defense.
While the films of Saulnier entertain the cliche of ‘the wrong person at the wrong place’ quite a few times, rather this is the ideal example of a person who cannot be termed as a ‘victim’. Terry is menacing but it is a controlled menace, more typical of a Jason Bourne character who can turn the tide against his captors. Pierre has a firm gaze and is the kind of person who speaks in velvet tones and is calm even though storms are brewing inside him. The transition he makes from simply maintaining calmness to a calm and uncompromising extreme of violence is quite something. Every single action is brutal, yet notably requires an amount of calculation that renders it only non-lethal in effect. When the cops find out what “MCMAP” really is, it is an effective benchmark that the audience appreciates watching because it indicates that they have confronted greater challenges than they expected.
However, the filmmakers of Rebel Ridge do not wish for their film to only end with a hit action-packed finale. Most of the film’s thrills and excitement do not stem from car races or spectacular fight scenes, but rather from the intricacies which are embedded in the notion of small towns gone bad. Each obstacle faced by Terry is just about using legal language and technology that is policy. The movie reveals, step by step, how local jurisdictions pervert the law, and how legal asset forfeiture the practice of seizing assets without trial is misused by police in respect of the defenseless. Terry’s plight is more tragic because it epitomizes this pillar of social degeneration when arbitrary power exists within the confines of the structure of law.
In this way, the film as such reveals an unexpected feel. It is not a title that requires flamboyant battle sequences or Rambo-like explosions, there are no outlandish slow-motion guns akimbo combat sequences similar to John Wick. The reservation of Saulnier portrays suspense in the form of monotonous paperwork, the volume of deadlines, and the hopeless depiction of the lawyer’s game in the eyes of the audience. The heat, as well as the hostility of the rural Louisiana, adds to the otherwise overwhelming theme of solitude that is holistically the vision of Saulnier.
Do not expect a heroic-defeat villain scenario for every rivalry in Rebel Ridge, for in such a case, the film has an extra element that will catch you off-guard. Terry is not merely striking intelligent, self-serving agreements that secure him away from constant clashes with the corrupt police chief, he is striving against the systems of oppression which permit such abuse to survive. The real terror is not even the prospect of which police person will beat you up (and yes, there are many about this), it is rather the fact, that the brutality is only a manifestation of an evil that is much worse and more deep-rooted.
Part of Rebel Ridge that struck me as fresh was how the movie’s creator does not shy away from the protagonist’s character’s avenues of strength in the face of tension. He’s neither a homeless PTSD-suffering person nor a basic punk subculture member held captive in a neo-Nazi community. For the most part, he displays an almost superhuman level of competence. That, however, does not make the stakes lower since Saulnier does not seek to glorify any form of violence. Rather it is used as an instrument to reveal the dualities of its very nature when it is in the hands of human beings. A realistic officer goes as far as being able to disarm several officers in a room but at the end of the day, his strengths are still in the hands of a ruthless social order that only seeks to contain him. He is effective in the same way a scalpel is effective about a tank but he is engaged in a battle that was fixed well before it started.
Pierre may seem an extremely gentle person, but he carries himself in a way that seems to ignite a fire in him with his subtleties. Terry is a man who relishes and performs well in darkness and every motion of his spells danger and chaos in the simplest form which Pierre does for the audience perfectly. Pierre is the man that catches the eye of famous producers such as Barry Jenkins who cast him in ‘The Underground Railroad’ because of his heavy intensity.
After all, Rebel Ridge is a well-crafted, nerve-wracking thriller that demands the viewer’s full attention or it may be perceived as a passive viewing experience of some sort. Even though it raises the stakes, it utilizes great brain power. It is the kind of smart, intricately constructed tension-building entertainment that has not been seen on Netflix in a long time.
For More Movie Like Rebel Ridge Visit on 123Movies