Time: 131 Minutes
Cast:
Aaron Pierre as Terry Richmond
Don Johnson as Chief Sandy Burnne
AnnaSophia Robb as Summer McBride
David Denman as Officer Evan Marston
Emory Cohen as Officer Steve Lann
Steve Zissis as Elliot
Zsané Jhé as Officer Jessica Sims
Dana Lee as Mr. Liu
James Cromwell as Judge
Director: Jeremy Saulnier

I was interested in Rebel Ridge the moment I learned that it was the next movie from Jeremy Saulnier, who previously directed Green Room, Blue Ruin and Hold the Dark. His latest movie had been going through multiple delays due to behind the scenes issues including COVID, but it’s finally here and it was worth the wait. 

Considering the brutal past work of the director, Rebel Ridge is relatively restrained. It also isn’t as action oriented as the trailers imply, instead being more of a gripping and engaging drama about a corrupt police force in a small town. It has quite a slow build and is more dialogue heavy than expected, but it effectively grows the tension and brooding atmosphere, even if the story does get a little convoluted at points. It’s entertaining throughout and has enjoyable action in the third act, but does have something of an abrupt ending. 

Aaron Pierre is amazing in the lead role, from what I understand, he was a replacement for original actor John Boyega, who dropped out early in production. That said, it’s really hard to imagine an actor other than Pierre playing the part. He’s very convincing, somewhat quiet but has a towering screen presence and owns the physicality, especially during the action scenes. AnnaSophia Robb is great, and Don Johnson is really good as the villainous and corrupt police chief. David Denman, Emory Cohen and James Cromwell are also good in their parts. 

Unsurprisingly, Jeremy Saulnier’s direction is excellent. The film is visually stunning with great cinematography and is really well edited, and is effective at building up the tension. While it is restrained and far less violent than you’d expect from Saulnier, the moments of action are great, very entertaining and well choreographed and shot. There isn’t a ton of action but it is good when it’s there, especially in the third act. 

Rebel Ridge is a very gripping, effective and greatly written and directed crime thriller, with top notch performances, especially from Aaron Pierre.