Rebel Ridge is a study in rising tension that will make you feel like you haven’t taken a breath in two hours.
The Netflix movie is the latest from writer-director Jeremy Saulnier, whose breakthrough film Blue Ruin (2013) and follow-up Green Room (2015) are equally taut.
But where those two cut the tension with visceral violence, Rebel Ridge does the opposite, forcing you to feel the military-grade restraint shown by the lead character.
It is a neat trick which had me largely rapt throughout the 131 minute runtime, but for a slow 30 minutes of exposition at the start of the third act.
Exposition is a necessary evil in Rebel Ridge, which is oriented around the murky idea of ‘civil forfeiture’ which is one of those American laws that you can’t quite believe exists.
Civil forfeiture gives cops the right to seize assets from a person when there is enough suspicion – but no proof yet – that said assets have been used for or gained from something illegal.
Sounds reasonable enough, right?
Well, in Rebel Ridge’s case in the rural backwaters of Louisiana, the law is used to seize assets from just about anyone the local police department wants to target.
It is a fantastic framework for a movie and the first 45 minutes of Rebel Ridge, in particular, are electric.
That is largely owing to a break-out performance from British actor Aaron Pierre as an ex-army man trying to do the right thing for his family.
He is cast in opposition to the uncompromising local police chief, Sandy Burnne, who is played with sinister glee by Don Johnson.
Their scenes together are worth firing up Netflix alone.
There is nothing altogether unique about Rebel Ridge, which could easily be the B-plot in an episode of Reacher or some similarly mass-produced crime procedural.
But Saulnier is able to maintain a level of focus and control that makes this movie eminently watchable.
Rated 18 for Violence and Language.
4/5.
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