'Rebel Ridge' Reviews Aaron Pierre has a "star-making performance"

         On September 6, 2024, Netflix released 'Rebel Ridge', which has received rave reviews from critics, currently holding at 94% on Rotten Tomatoes alongside a Critics Consensus that reads, "An intelligent and gripping vehicle for Aaron Pierre's star-making performance, Rebel Ridge lays down the law on its action-thriller contemporaries." In the film, "Terry Richmond enters the town of Shelby Springs on a simple but urgent mission-- post bail for his cousin and save him from imminent danger. But when Terry’s life’s savings is unjustly seized by law-enforcement, he’s forced to go head to head with local police chief Sandy Burnne and his combat-ready officers. Terry finds an unlikely ally in court clerk Summer McBride and the two become ensnared in a deep-rooted conspiracy within the remote township. As the stakes turn deadly, Terry must call upon his mysterious background to break the department’s hold on the community, bring justice to his own family-- and protect Summer in the process." The ensemble cast includes Emory Cohen, AnnaSophia Robb, Don Johnson, and David Denman. Read the full review round-up below.

Photo by Thibault Penin on Unsplash

        John Serba of Decider notes, "Saulnier is a master craftsman, integrating technically precise, visceral action into a deliciously knotty story that wrestles with institutional rot in American policing. Rebel Ridge goes deep into the corruption swamp, and it’s infuriatingly plausible within existing civil asset forfeiture laws, which strike me as being words synonymous with “legal stealing.” (In a nutshell, cops only need suspicion, not proof, to seize assets.) But this is no message movie – rather, its primary currency is suspense, which Saulnier Silly-Putty stretches over the course of two-plus taut hours, the score pumping beneath a series of unexpected dramatic developments like an accelerated heartbeat. Saulnier directs in a manner that forces you to sit up and pay attention. I was riveted."

        Hilary A White of Sunday Independent praises the film, stating, "Less bloody but every bit as cerebral and cunning as we’ve come to expect from Saulnier, this is a fine addition to his filmography that keeps viewers on their toes." Adding, "Writer-director Jeremy ­Saulnier made an indelible splash in 2013 with his intelligent, gripping neo-western Blue Ruin. Heavily delayed by the pandemic, this latest outing once again puts a unique spin on a classic genre. A stranger cycles into a remote town. Terry (Aaron Pierre) is an ex-marine racing to post bail so that his cousin won’t be transferred to a notorious jail. Immediately, he’s knocked off the bike by crooked cops, who confiscate his sizeable bundle of cash. He remains calm until a short time later when it emerges the militia-like local police and their chief (Don Johnson) are ­running an extortion racket while terrorising the local community. Terry decides enough is enough. Helped by a local court clerk (AnnaSophia Robb), he sets out to fix their wagon.What the cops will discover is that this stranger in town has what Liam Neeson might euphemistically refer to as “a very particular set of skills”."

      Alistair Harkness of The Scotsman says, "The end result is bravura filmmaking: smart, slick, muscular – and entertaining as hell."

       James Preston Poole of But Why Tho? A Geek Community writes, "Righteously angry, Rebel Ridge is a pointed indictment of the United States policing system that is coincidentally a near-perfect thriller."