Director Jeremy Saulnier’s fifth feature, Rebel Ridge, streaming on Netflix, is the kind of slow-burn action thriller that is something of a rarity these days. While the premise of a military vet protagonist uncovering small town corruption with a bleeding heart partner is not exactly among the most novel concepts, the way Rebel Ridge goes about it by blending detailed investigative procedural, high-tension action sequences and intense character drama with due emotional beats—well, it feels genuine, refreshing, and compact, to say the least. Viewers familiar with Saulnier’s work have an idea how the director likes to weave a thoroughly concept and character-driven story without ever falling prey to genre tropes, emphasizing the little moments throughout the story that build until a final cathartic release—and Rebel Ridge is a fine example of his craft. From brilliant performances to a solid screenplay, memorable score, and deft camerawork, the movie shines in every major department and manages to linger in the memory long after the credits roll.
Spoilers Ahead
Why Was Terry Going To Shelby Springs?
Terry Richmond, a former marine martial art instructor, is bicycling to the small town of Shelby Springs, in order to post bail money for his cousin, Mike, who has been arrested for possession of marijuana. The bail amount is on the higher side (ten thousand dollars) for a low-stakes situation such as this, but Terry needs to post it in time to keep Mike away from prison, whose past as a cooperating witness in a murder case reasonably puts his life in peril if he is ever sent away. Terry has a trusted contact in Percyville, a Chinese restaurant owner/Korean war vet, Mr. Liu, presumably his mentor, who has provided Terry with thirty-six thousand dollars in exchange for his car, as after bailing Mike out, Terry plans to start a small time transport business of his own. However, his plans go awry when, on his way to Shelby Springs, he is tackled by a police vehicle, and illegally detained by local cops Evan Marston and Steve Lann, who seize his money, turning a deaf ear to his statement about the source and what he intended to use it for and leave. Terry is helpless in the situation, and reaching Shelby Springs town hall, he tries to make a case against the corrupt cops to get his money back, only to realize that this town doesn’t even have a public defense lawyer. Court clerk Eliot is unwilling to help Terry, but another court clerk, Summer McBride, decides to help Terry on her own after listening to his story.
Terry learns that the town police department, led by Chief Sandy Burnne, has been using a legal loophole to use the provision of civil asset forfeiture for their own benefit and, with a mere excuse, miSDemeanors, practically looting unsuspecting people in broad daylight. If he sues the police, he will lose time and more money than what is at stake in legal proceedings. Summer offers her help to Terry and asks him to arrange the bail money for now, which Terry tries to do by informing Mr. Liu about his present predicament. However, Terry decides to go to the police station the next day and tries to express his grievances to Chief Sandy Burnne, and the duo have an argument as the chief continues to lie about the details of the incident. Terry tries to cut a deal with the chief, asking for the bail amount only while letting them keep the rest of the amount, and Sandy agrees to let him meet Mike before he is taken to the correctional facility. However, to spite Terry, Sandy arranges for an early move; despite that, Terry is able to meet his cousin by chasing the facility bus on his bicycle, assuring Mike that Terry is by his side and warning him to lay low at the same time. Realizing Sandy will not keep his end of the bargain regarding the bail money, Terry requests Mr. Liu to send the amount, only to realize that Sandy had arranged a shakeup at Mr. Liu’s restaurant, resulting in police taking away his monthly payroll; as a result, he will not be able to arrange the money either. Terry apologizes for the inconvenience and promises to compensate him for his loss later.
Was Terry Able to Save Mike?
A desperate Terry goes to meet Summer, who secretly reveals to Terry that the root of the corruption goes deeper than he could imagine as, using the lack of public defendants, police are arresting small-time convicts with a hefty bail amount, keeping them in custody for three months before releasing them—for reasons still unknown. Summer agrees to complete Mike’s release paperwork if Terry manages to arrange the bail amount in the meantime, and with Mike’s transfer to prison already underway, Terry only has an hour or so. Out of options, Terry decides to make a risky gamble by directly going to the Shelby Springs police station, using his skills to disarm Steve and Sandy and hold them hostage, and forcing the only black female officer, Jessica, to guide him to the armory and cash deposit, which turns out to be filled to the brim with firearms and loads of seized cash. Still respecting the deal, Terry takes the ten thousand bail amount and coerces Jessica to allow him a safe exit by staging his arrest. Terry makes his way to the town hall just in time to post bail for Mike and gets arrested later on, with Steve tasing him unjustly to release his frustration upon him.
Officer Marston and Chief Sandy take Terry to a hospital and reveal that Mike was attacked in transit, and it is revealed later that he passed away. Sandy coerces Terry to take the amount he came with, purchase the truck he needed to start his transport business, and leave the town for good. It doesn’t take much imagination to realize how Mike met his end, but Terry is helpless with a chopper already tracking his movement.
Why Did Summer Assist Terry?
Losing his cousin, Terry is reasonably devastated, and Summer, who was hoping that Terry might help her to get to the root of the corruption pervading the town, finds him too dejected to continue this pursuit of justice. Terry takes his leave as he moves out of town to purchase the truck he had planned to, and decides to share his number with Summer. Later that night, Officer Steve pays a visit to Summer’s house in secret, and drugs her – to teach her a lesson for assisting Terry for so long. Getting Summer’s distress call, Terry rushes back to the town and finds her to be safe for now – she was drugged in a limited dose, as the perps had the intention of ruining her law career. Summer reveals that she has been a victim of the town’s corruption, which is why it was a personal aim for her to ensure that no one is denied justice. Summer reveals that she had a history of struggling with her addiction, and when she was unlawfully charged while pawning an object of minimal value, her husband filed for divorce, taking custody of their daughter. The judge had taken pity on her and provided with the court clerk job, since then she has been living clean, fighting on her own to get custody of her daughter back – all of which could go to waste right now if her present medical status is checked. Summer’s fears come true when, out of the blue, the same judge orders her medical condition to be tested, and with traces of drugs in her system, she is suspended – most importantly, she possibly loses any chance of getting her daughter back. While leaving the town, Terry is apprehended by Steve, who taunts him with Summer’s predicament and almost tries to kill him, but Terry manages to hold his own, survives with a gunshot wound and flees after tasing Steve senseless.
What Was The True Extent Of Shelby Springs’ Corruption?
An injured Terry calls Summer and asks her to meet in the rendezvous location of Mr. Liu’s restaurant in Percyville. One of Summer’s friends in the town’s police force, an inside person later codenamed by Terry as Serpico, had warned her that it would be dangerous for Summer to stay in town any longer, so she was already packing up to stay mobile. Meeting with her in Percyville, getting patched up, and providing his mentor monetary compensation for his loss (as Terry had promised) with the money Sandy had given him, Terry reveals that he has changed his mind about walking off, and is determined to square off with these corrupt leeches.
Grilling Elliot, the chief court clerk of the town, Summer and Terry learn that the root of the corruption goes back to a civil lawsuit case two years ago, and as the duo decide to interrogate the judge about it – they learn that the entire town was in the pocket of the police department following the incident. The civil lawsuit case, resulting from an illegal search/ wrongful death case, maligned Chief Sandy’s reputation, and the town nearly went broke to pay for the monetary remuneration in state court. However, Sandy doubled down on the illegal detainment and seizure of property ever since, sharing the gains with the entire town to keep every authoritatuve and legislative department under his payroll, bolstered the force with weaponry which was leased to other towns to cash in by instigating riots, unrest – a total syndicate is being operated without the knowledge of state police or higher authorities. The fact that a part of the illegal gain was distributed in the town’s community service whitewashed the blood money, and made the whole ordeal legit on paper.
Judge further reveals that the dashcam videos in police vehicles, which can prove the police harassment, are stored in hard drives in the courthouse, accessing which one can easily enter another lawsuit in state court – completely obliterating the existence of Shelby Springs’ corrupt machinery as a result. The judge was prepared for this interaction, and knowing that he will be cut off by Sandy soon as he becomes aware that he provided the crucial intel to Terry and Summer, the judge had already overdosed on medication to ensure himself a painless death.
Was Terry Able To Expose The Corruption of Shelby Springs?
Terry and Summer make their way to the basement of the courthouse to get their hands on the drives, and despite finding them destroyed already, come across the SD cards containing the most recent dashcam videos of illegal detainments – among which Mike’s final moments are recorded as well. This is more than enough to trigger the downfall of the Shelby Springs police department, but trouble arises anew when Summer, while trying to obtain her urine sample (to remove the proof of test) gets captured by the police who were present at the moment to destroy the evidence. Terry, who has the SD cards, secretly tails them and manages to corner Officer Evan, coercing him to contact Summer’s abductors. Steve, one of the abductors, agrees to cut a deal to spare Summer’s life in exchange for the SD cards and asks Terry to meet at rendezvous point in Rebel Ridge.
With the force spread out in search of Terry, Shelby Springs police station remains relatively unguarded with only Chief Sandy and Jessica being present, and Terry makes the right call by launching an attack on it. He deduces that Jessica is Serpico, the secret inside person and Summer’s friend, who had assisted her for so long, and trusts her with the SD cards to hand those over to state police. However, Jessica is not Serpico, and she arrests Terry at gunpoint, right as the entire force returns to the police station. Steve destroys the SD cards that Jessica hands over to him, it is revealed that the sadistic maniac has overdosed Summer once again, and decides to kill Terry on the spot to avoid further mess-ups. However, all of a sudden, Evan steps up and turns on Steve, and Terry realizes he was Serpico all along. Chief Sandy grievously injures Evan by shooting him in the leg, shocking Jessica, as the incident puts a dent in her blind allegiance.
Sandy’s assault on Evan results in a confusing altercation among the cops, and using it as a distraction, Terry decides to launch an all-out attack on them using non-lethal incendiary and projectile weapons he had stashed in his backpack. At the same time, Terry pulls Evan to safety, single-handedly knocks out several cops, and gives Steve a much-deserved beatdown. Taking Evan and an unconscious Summer in Evan’s police cruiser, Terry makes a run for it through the highway to attract state police. However, with one of the tires getting blown out, the escape turns out to be tougher than imagined, and soon, Chief Sandy and his cavalry gather around them. Despite not having the drives or SD cards, Terry can still prove the pervasive corruption in Shelby Springs using the dashcam video of Evan’s cruiser, but with the cops catching up to them already, the chances of doing so wear thin. Just when all hope seems lost, Jessica grows a guilty conscience and knocks Chief Sandy’s SUV off the road. It is revealed that not only Jessica, but the rest of the following cops had turned against the Chief as well, as they call the state police, knowing full well that the entire force will be taken down if Terry makes it to the state police. Finally, Terry admits Evan and Summer to a hospital, secures the dashcam drive of Evan’s car, and his eyes, glimmering with a ray of hope, tell him that he will get justice for Mike. Not only Mike, the trio of Terry, Evan, and Summer have ensured all the people who were wronged by Chief Sandy and his collaborators will get their due justice.
