Star-making performance stands out in Netflix revenge thriller ‘Rebel Ridge’

Jeremy Saulnier’s “Rebel Ridge,” a “Rambo”-inspired riff on racial profiling and the banality of insidious evil in American policing, shows the filmmaker a mastery of the tight action thriller. His skill in that subgenre was showcased in “Blue Ruin” (2013) as well as “Green Room” (2016) and “Hold the Dark” (2018). But in “Rebel Ridge,” Saulnier’s examination of space and speed surpasses anything that came before, coolly trading extreme control for explosive outbursts of anger over the course of more than two hours.

It is this rhythm where Saulier’s MO comes into focus: formal cinematic expression as a reflection of his protagonist’s state of mind. The story and style of “Rebel Ridge,” which Saulnier wrote, directed and edited, revolves around Terry (Aaron Pierre), a man caught in an overwhelming daily nightmare that spirals out of control. Pushed to the limit, Terry maintains his composure until he can’t, and it’s thrilling to watch Saulnier unleash this character.

In a star-making performance, Pierre is magnificent as a man with a particular skill set buzzing beneath his calm and collected surface. With his golden eyes, velvety voice and soft walk, Pierre is like a puma prowling the screen, but ultimately his character’s disposition is more like a rattlesnake — coiled and ready to strike when threatened.

The plot engine of “Rebel Ridge” is law enforcement’s use of civil asset forfeiture. In the opening sequence, Terry is riding his bike through the Southern town of Shelby Springs when a police officer (David Denham) tries to stop him, casually hitting him with his police car, taking him into custody, and seizing the wad of cash in his backpack on “suspecting” it to be drug money.

Terry was carrying cash to bail his cousin Mike (CJ LeBlanc) out of prison, hoping to free him before he was transferred to state prison, where he would be in grave danger as a former witness in a murder case. But Terry’s money disappears into a storage locker, where it remains until he challenges the lien in court months later. Summer (AnnaSophia Robb), a spunky young paralegal, also tells him that the police department has made a habit of using these lien schemes to fund its budget (and some margarita machines) after a civil lawsuit resulted in a superficial “cleanup” of corrupt practices.

By refusing to admit that he stole the police department’s money (and put his family in danger in the process), Terry has kicked up a hornet’s nest and provoked a horde of good-old cops (including the excellent Emory Cohen). These cops answer to Chief Sandy Burnne (Don Johnson). What these cops don’t realize, however, is that Terry is not someone to be messed with because they discover too late that he’s not just any old Marine. He’s a Marine martial arts instructor.

Much talk of police procedure drives the action of “Rebel Ridge,” although Saulnier plants bursts of violence throughout as Terry takes control. Long, scrolling tracking shots with sophisticated camera and character blocking give way to frantic overhand movements as Terry grapples and wrestles with his enemies. Saulnier uses editing to evoke Terry’s heightened alertness, constantly checking up on everyone around him as he realizes just how deep the corruption in this town runs.

Saulnier’s film is about exhaustive discussions of mundane legal minutiae and how police manipulate policy for their own ends. Terry finds himself thrust into a hellish maelstrom of bureaucracy, paperwork, and a “justice” system that relies heavily on the discretion of small-town cops and judges who have their own motivations and biases and make decisions that value budgets over human lives: Black lives, women’s lives, addicts’ lives.

Within this complex system of shifting loyalties, one extremely talented man can eliminate weaknesses and disrupt the food chain. But a sense of futility hangs over the narrative that it can and will happen again and again. Another case, another life lost, another makeshift solution. But for a moment, a man on a bike with a few clever weapons can wreak holy havoc on corrupt cops, and oh how good it feels to watch.

This story was first published on: Los Angeles Times.