REBEL RIDGE

US, 2024, 131 minutes, Colour.

Aaron Pierre, Don Johnson, AnnaSophia Robb, David Denman, Emory Cohen, Steve Zissis, Zsane the, James Cromwell.

Directed by Jeremy Saulnier.

We are in Louisiana, definitely the atmosphere of the South, arrogant cops, political corruption, the treatment of an itinerant black man.

This is the kind of action film where the audience is invited to sympathise with the central character, in this case, Terry Richmond, played by British actor Aaron Pierre. He is riding his bicycle along Louisiana Road, bumped to the ground by pursuing police, treated as a suspect, all kinds of charges, no belief in his defence that he is carrying $30,000 to get to the court to place bail for one of his cousin. He is treated with contempt as well as disbelief, brutally treated, and his seeming to accept something of his fate.

Then we are introduced to the chief of police, played by Don Johnson, and audience hostility goes up several degrees. We see the corruption, get information that there have been many victims like Terry Richmond, and information that budgets are tight and the local police need this kind of forfeiting of money in such situations.

There is also a sympathetic young woman, Summer (AnnaSophia Robb) who is able to give Terry some documentation about the history of corruption.

By this stage, we are halfway through the film. Which means, of course, that Terry Richmond will come into his own, self-assertion, collaboration with Summer even as the police turn on her. The assistant at the police station does a bit of googling and, just a bit too late, finds out just who Terry Richmond is and what are his military qualifications.

While we might say that this action scenario is somewhat formulaic, that does not undermine the effect of audience identification with the central characters and the injustices, loathing of the corrupt police, the various stages of their comeuppance

As expected, the action becomes violent at times, and disgust at the lengths the police will go to justify themselves and eliminate opposition.

1. The title? Louisiana? Attitudes of the American South? Race issues? Policing? Corruption?
2. The Louisiana settings, the countryside, the towns, homes, police offices? The musical score?
3. Terry Richmond, riding his bike, the pursuit by the police, stopped, apprehension, suspicions? His explanation, bail for his cousin? African-American?
4. This kind of drama eliciting audience sympathy for the persecuted central character, the second half and the comeuppance of the persecutors?
5. Terry, character, working in the restaurant, the Chinese background, phoning, raising the money, the restaurant attacked by thugs, his cousin and drug deals, wanting to post the bail? Arriving in the town, the interrogation by the police, in the cell? The encounter with the chief? The two arresting officers and their attitudes and behaviour?
6. The financial situation of the police, the chief and his plan, the offices, the female officer in the office, her googling, finding out the truth about Terry? Taking of the money, the legal holding of the money, the use of the money, the cabinet full of weapons? Financial deals, the legal implications? The role of the judge – and the later interrogation, his killing himself?
7. Summer, her background, drugs, rehabilitation, the judge, getting the job, her child? Talking with Terry, giving information, the meetings, the leads, the indication of an inside informer, presumption that it was the woman, the later revelation of Marston?
8. Terry, the confrontation with the chief, verbal, physical? His military training, his skills? The exercise?
9. The move towards resolution, the transfer of the prisoners, his riding by pursuing the bus, reassuring his cousin? The later news of his death?
10. The complexities of the set-ups, his allowing himself to be taken, the drugging of Summer, the threats? Driving away, the ambushes, the shootouts, Rebel Ridge? Confrontation with the chief? Marston revealed?
11. A picture of small town corruption, violent consequences, exposing the corruption, resolution?