REVIEW
What Makes ‘Rebel Ridge’ A Spectacular Action Thriller
Jeremy Saulnier’s film offers audiences a more human kind of vigilante hero
The vigilante film became popular in the 1970s following a spike in violent crime and a widespread belief that police were being inappropriately restricted from using deadly force. “Dirty Harry” (1971) starring Clint Eastwood as San Francisco police detective Harry Callahan was a prime example, and film critic Roger Ebert famously described the “movie’s moral position” as “fascist.”
“Rebel Ridge” exists in sharp contrast. Screenwriter and director Jeremy Saulnier builds a narrative around the injustice of civil asset forfeiture by police. The vigilante character is a Black former marine named Terry Richmond (Aaron Pierre), who goes to war against police not only because they targeted him but also because police have turned the fictional town of Shelby Springs, Alabama, into their fiefdom.
Terry must get to the municipal courthouse so he can post the $10,000 bail for his cousin Mike (C.J. LeBlanc). If he does not, Mike will be transferred to a state prison and face grave danger. He speeds to the courthouse on his bicycle while listening to a “metal mix” on his phone (with songs like Iron Maiden’s “Number of the Beast”).
The movie’s pitch perfect opening scene is the catalyst for much of the ensuing action. Officer Evan Marston (David Denman) knocks Terry off his bicycle, and Marston and Officer Steve Lann (Emory Cohen) detain Terry. Though Terry knows his rights, the clock is ticking. He reluctantly consents to a search of his backpack, and the police find a Chinese restaurant bag with $36,000 in cash.
Terry is unaware that police may legally seize his money. He believes that he has done nothing wrong, and there is nothing to hide. The cash came from selling his stake in a Chinese restaurant. His cousin was arrested for weed possession, but he is not a drug dealer.
Evidence does not matter to the police. Marston and Lann say that they suspect the cash is “drug currency” and take Terry’s money. The officers also threaten to charge him with felony evasion and conspiracy if he challenges the seizure in municipal court.
Terry initially attempts to find someone at the courthouse who will correct the injustice. He doesn’t know that the town employees are paid with funds seized through civil asset forfeiture.
He meets a white clerk named Summer (AnnaSophia Robb), who further informs him about the practice. Even if he does prevail in court, it will take at least a year of litigation and cost him more than the $36,000 taken by police.
The fact that the police may seize a person’s money and engage in such a blatant violation of civil rights is difficult for Terry to believe. He works through this denial by going to the police station, where he bargains for his cousin’s freedom. He encounters police chief Sandy Burnne, who Don Johnson plays as a conniving and cutthroat commander. Only after that fails does Terry lean on his military martial arts skills and escalate his tactics.
According to Saulnier, the script that he developed came from researching civil asset forfeiture. He sprinkles details about the legal but unjust practice throughout the movie without overburdening the narrative.
Saulnier was struck by how numerous municipal courts in the U.S. are underfunded, leaving middle America without public defenders to protect their constitutional rights. Towns rely on policing to generate revenue and fund their budgets.
This is not limited to civil asset forfeiture nor is it limited to places like Shelby Springs. Courts in cities like Washington, D.C., fine and then tax people, including individuals who commit minor traffic violations.
Making “Rebel Ridge” was a five-year ordeal. It survived multiple delays. Saulnier fought the urge to tinker with the script and that restraint paid off.
When John Boyega left the film in 2021, the movie had to re-cast the role of Terry. Saulnier said, “Finding Aaron Pierre was a revelation.”
Pierre brings an intensity and flare to Terry that serves the action quite well, and he confidently delivers lines that on paper seem cheesy but give scenes an entertaining flourish. Robb’s performance as Summer drives home the moral dilemma that the townspeople face. That dilemma, and the threat to her life, becomes particularly acute as Summer develops into a kind of whistleblower.
There is an excellent cameo by James Cromwell as a judge who knows all the players involved in the conspiracy that Terry and Summer are unraveling. Of course, just about every scene in which Aaron Pierre and Don Johnson face off is action movie gold.
Saulnier has said that he embraced the idea that this may be a contemporary version of “First Blood” (1982). Both “First Blood” and “Rebel Ridge” may feature a vigilante hero fighting a small town police force, but a key difference is that Terry was never deployed to a war zone. He is not suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder like Sylvester Stallone’s Rambo.
A Black person fighting police, especially in a rural small town in the southern United States, is a stunning image. The audacity and defiance of Terry is made even more profound by the “Blue Lives Matter” backlash to the 2014 and 2020 uprisings, which demanded justice for Black people killed by police.
Drive anywhere in rural America or the suburbs of major cities, and one will see flags, signs, or emblems showing unflinching solidarity with cops. Movie characters like Harry Callahan are their kind of heroes.
But “Rebel Ridge” gives audiences a more human kind of vigilante hero, one who stands up to injustice and corruption without spouting reactionary politics. Criminal gangs are not tearing apart communities. The criminal gang in the movie is the police department.
