Decided to tread with caution on this next upcoming Netflix review of “Rebel Ridge” because we’ve been made clear how wishy-washy these Netflix productions tend to be; more times often than not, they don’t put their best foot forward and the rare times they do, they don’t bother promoting it or it’s not as good as it’s been claimed (talkin’ to you, Hit Man).
All that being said…..this is good. It’s honestly one of Netflix’s best releases in a long while.
Equipping his narrative with a sniper rifles precision with the patience of a samurai, Jeremy Saulnier is another whose direction commands self-control with a purpose. Despite very obvious moments where one can detect his palpable anger being masked, he remembers to build those internal feelings around the film’s core production and everything feels just that more personal and energetic because of it.
Its classic western set-up is only the foreground for what eventually reveals itself to be a classic staple of Sauliner’s films: sparse, small, harsh landscapes setting the mood. Production design dances a lot between tight claustrophobia and this crushing sense of obtrusive isolation to accentuate this uninviting, unforgiving atmosphere and every scene does an excellent job pulling you further and further into this sinkhole that’s got everybody trapped; a canvas that keeps us aware of its geography to both expand its worldbuilding and strike a firm posture on where it stands. Since the film wastes no time with its set-up, its ability to manufacture and ground itself with all of this in limited time is impressive.
Darkness induced audience apathy creeps in relatively quickly as far as the mood and tone are concerned but in regards to subject matter, it matches that organized chaos and desperation in times such as these. We have patient cinematography that establishes steady movements, adequate spacing and durable pacing elsewhere that elegantly choreographs the tension engulfing or surrounding every individual character and with the resigned editing in unison, that’s one dynamic duo of precision and rhythm that can’t be beaten. More aspects that couldn’t be beaten are the simple costumes making wonderful use of color psychology, moody lighting enhancing its aura, a good escalation of tension the further we progress and its action being exceptionally constructed even without the usual vitriolic carnage candy we’ve been conditioned to expect from projects like this.
I don’t know what I expected from the music but quality matters more than quantity and the dramatic hums, rise and falls of cadence fit in line with the genre.
One can make the argument that the acting wasn’t all that convincing; I’d like to politely disagree and say every actor and actress alike was riveting in their own way but some of their portrayals do get handicapped by their characters not being entirely fleshed out. Not that that stopped Aaron Pierre, AnnaSophia Robb or Don Johnson from putting their best foot forward, the former two proving to be a commendable pairing.
Dialogue was snap, crackle and popping every which way though, so there’s that.
If you’ve ever watched Rambo: First Blood, you’ve got a pretty good idea where this story’s going to go: injustice served, more injustice piled on, mess with the wrong guy, time to teach the "good old boys" a lesson. While there’s no escaping the very familiar brand of storytelling, Saulnier’s writing definitely raises it from feeling pedestrian and staying the course. Every scene gets spaced out and varies its set-up accordingly to make sure the structure never starts feeling samey while paying homage to the roots of its genre; there’s enough carefully tightened strands in this Reacher-adjacent social drama heightened by so much raw electricity and momentum, as cliche as it sounds, it makes you feel like you’re directly caught in the crossfire.
And most of what we see matters in context to what it sets up. Sure, you can remove a couple scenes and the point would still apply but this film wanted to prove the phrase “A few bad apples spoil the bunch” was absolute for a reason.
I’m a sucker for stories that try to illustrate any depiction of corruption in a failing system; here, the issue relates to the overmilitarisation of local police forces and the injustices of civil asset forfeiture within that police corruption, especially when all those legalities go towards the favor of entitled racists and facists bending the law to the point it bumps up against illegal procedures and more. Highlighting the bureaucratic mugging and asinine loopholes that has and continues to negatively impact men and woman of different races, ethnicities and communities, of course it’ll reflect and shed more timely insight on how purposely broken the criminal justice system is; how modern policing doesn’t eradicate corruption but force it to evolve. You got people stuck firmly between a chess game when you think you’re playing checkers and some of these people will weaponize every little thing to their advantage, sometimes for understandable reasons that unfortunately, are detrimental to everyone else.
Events of the story get less and less taut the longer it goes on, however, and proceeds to go back to the well, replacing still enticing commentary for the more conventional beats of a corruption story. Not that that’s a bad thing; if anything, with how the events of the story played out, escalation and violence was always inevitable but it can’t help disparaging a few sacrificial lambs along the way. For a film that hinted A LOT at a whole bunch of racial and class issues, some of the conviction placed to follow through on them is either half-measured at best or just isn’t followed up on.
Certainly doesn’t help how it tends to drag in the middle, meaning I felt the length of that runtime creeping in. It barely makes that U-turn to avoid becoming overindulgent and I got back my attention as quickly as it was about to lose me.
So we can agree that this was the best Rebel movie to come out this year, right? Right?
