Netflix's action thriller 'Rebel Ridge' hits the jackpot with sweet revenge

In Jeremy Saulnier’s “Rebel Ridge,” a “Rambo”-inspired take on racial discrimination and the insidious banality of evil that permeates American policing, the filmmaker demonstrates his mastery of the tense action thriller. His dexterity with the subgenre has been on display since 2013’s “Blue Ruin” through 2016’s “Green Room” and 2018’s “Hold the Dark.” But in “Rebel Ridge,” Saulnier’s examination of space and pacing transcends all that has come before, coolly alternating extreme control with bursts of explosive fury over the course of more than two hours.

It’s in this cadence that Saulier’s modus operandi comes into focus: his 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, centers on Terry (Aaron Pierre), a man caught in a crushing, everyday nightmare spiraling out of control. Pushed to the edge, Terry remains calm — until he isn’t — and it’s thrilling to watch Saulnier let loose with this character.

In a performance that has made him a star, Pierre is fantastic as a man with a particular set of skills that vibrate beneath his calm, placid exterior. With golden eyes, a velvety voice and a smooth gait, Pierre is like a cougar prowling the screen, but ultimately his character's temperament is much more like that of a rattlesnake: coiled and ready to strike when threatened.

The driving force of the plot in “Rebel Ridge” is the law enforcement practice of confiscating civilian property. In the opening sequence, Terry is riding his bike through the southern town of Shelby Springs when a police officer (David Denham) tries to pull him over, clumsily hits him with his patrol car, pulls him over and confiscates the wad of cash in his backpack “on suspicion” that it is drug money.

Terry was carrying the cash to bail his cousin Mike (CJ LeBlanc) out of jail, hoping to free him before he was transferred to the state penitentiary, where he would be in grave danger as a former witness in a murder trial. But Terry's money disappears into a personal closet, where it will remain until he can challenge the seizure in court months later. A plucky young paralegal, Summer (AnnaSophia Robb), also informs him that the police department makes a habit of such seizures to fund its budget (and some margarita machines), after a civil lawsuit resulted in a cursory “cleanup” of its corrupt practices.

By refusing to accept that the police department has stolen his money (and, in doing so, endangered his family), Terry has gone on a rampage, riling up a swarm of good cops (including an excellent Emory Cohen), who answer to Chief Sandy Burnne (Don Johnson). But what these cops don't realize is that Terry is not someone to be messed with, as they discover too late that he's not just an ex-Marine. He's a Navy martial arts instructor.

There’s a lot of talk about police procedurals in “Rebel Ridge,” but Saulnier introduces bursts of violence throughout the film as Terry takes control. Long, fluid sequences with sophisticated camera work and character blocking give way to frenetic handheld movements as Terry fights and grapples with his enemies. Saulnier uses montage to evoke Terry’s increasing vigilance, constantly monitoring everyone around him as he comes to realize how deep the corruption in this city runs.

The plot of Saulnier’s film is precisely this detailed analysis of mundane legal details and how police manipulate policy for their own benefit. Terry has been plunged into a hellish odyssey of bureaucracy, paperwork, and a “justice” system that relies too heavily on the discretion of small-town cops and judges who have their own motivations and biases and who too readily make decisions that prioritize budgets over human lives: black lives, women’s lives, addicts’ lives.

In this complex system of shifting loyalties, one very skilled man can root out weaknesses and disrupt the food chain. But a sense of futility hangs over the narrative, that this can and will happen again and again. Another lawsuit, another life lost, another workaround. But for a moment, one man on a bike with a few skillfully wielded guns can wreak havoc on corrupt cops, and damn, it's a nice feeling to watch.