An ex-Marine grapples his way through a web of small-town corruption when an attempt to post bail for his cousin escalates into a violent standoff with the local police chief.

It’s been 6 years since Jeremy Saulnier’s last movie and his return is long overdue, especially as it is a welcome return with the excellent ‘Rebel Ridge’, a tense crime thriller with a story to match the brilliant performances. It begins in a small town where Terry Richmond (Aaron Pierre) has arrived to post bail for his cousin, when the legitimate funds he has with him are unlawfully seized by two unscrupulous police officers. Their ‘justification’ is that they don’t believe the money to be legitimate, citing civil forfeiture (which is a real thing and well worth reading up on), leaving Terry with limited options to prevent his cousin being transferred to a state prison, where he is unlikely to last long having previously informed on a gangster. This sets off a chain of events where Terry attempts to get his money back, first legally, second politely and third forcefully, and the movie follows this journey.

This is a really excellent stripped back crime movie, with a great leading performance from Aaron Pierre who is magnetic at the centre of the action. The role was originally meant to be played by John Boyega, who I’m sure would have been great, but his loss is most certainly Pierre’s gain and he makes the most of the opportunity. Leading the gang of corrupt cops is the brilliant Don Johnson, who is all southern charm on the face of it, masking the racism and corruption that he has allowed to play out in his small town dominion. There are multiple great scenes of Johnson and Pierre facing off, every bit as tense as any action sequence, which are used sparingly and all the more effective for it. The plot is tightly scripted, unfolding methodically and I was gripped from start to finish.

Jeremy Saulnier has proven his chops in this space before with the excellent ‘Blue Ruin’, his second feature that brought him to a wider audience, and ‘Green Room’, his brilliant follow up, and with ‘Rebel Ridge’, he’s made another terrifically entertaining movie. ‘Rebel Ridge’ is one of the best action thrillers of recent times and is worth far more of your time than its better funded and publicised contemporaries.

Rating: 4/5

Directed By: Jeremy Saulnier

Starring: Aaron Pierre, Don Johnson, AnnaSophia Robb, David Denman, Emory Cohen, Steve Zissis, Zsané Jhé, Dana Lee and James Cromwell

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt11301886/