Rebel Ridge takes the audience on a tense journey into the world of police corruption, but will hero Terry Richmond finally get justice?
Netflix’s new 2024 thriller is directed by Jeremy Saulnier, best known for his work True Detective and Keep it Dark.
Although Rebel Ridge not based on a true story, the film is based on the truth of things that can happen and explores how everyday people react to corrupt systems.
What happens on Netflix’s Rebel Ridge
Rebel Ridge features coming Mufasa Aaron Pierre stars as ex-Marine Terry Richmond, who has bail for his arrested cousin Mike, who was seized by the local authorities.
After interviewing and investigating the nature of this unjust act, Terry soon learns that the local police force has a habit of confiscating money from arrested suspects without justification, enabled by a legal loophole known as civil asset forfeiture.
With the help of Summer (AnnaSophia Robb), a legal assistant, Terry tries to get justice for his local police force and stop the web of corruption. But will they succeed?
Mike’s fate
The event that initiates processing Rebel Ridge is Terry’s desperation to free his cousin Mike from prison. This is because Mike was once a witness in a murder trial, which would mean that his transfer to prison would leave him with the stamp of death.
Tragically, this is exactly what happens to Mike, who is targeted and fatally wounded after being transferred to a state prison.
After the death of his cousin, Terry becomes more determined to stop corruption in the police force.
Who is Summer’s spokesperson?
Throughout the plot Rebel Ridgeit is revealed that a police informant has leaked information to Summer.
Summer and Terry soon learn that Police Chief Sandy Burnne (Don Johnson) has been using the money seized through civil asset forfeiture to fund his police department. It’s also revealed that Chief Burnne had to do this somewhat after being named in a wrongful death case and given a year by a judge to clean up his department – a nearly impossible task due to budget cuts.
In order to expose the chief’s corruption, Summer and Terry make a desperate attempt to break into City Hall to steal the SD card containing the dashboard footage from Mike’s arrest, hoping this scandal will draw attention to the situation at Rebel Ridge.
However, Summer is caught and Terry makes a deal with the police to return the evidence in exchange for her life. But Terry is blindsided when he mistakes Officer Jessica Sims (Zsane Jhe) for Summer’s informant. Working with Chief Burnne, he quickly destroys the SD card and prepares to shoot Terry.
Fortunately, Summer’s real informant reveals himself to be Officer Marston (David Denman), who takes a bullet in the leg but helps Terry make a successful escape.
Will Terry get justice?
In the final action sequence, Marston tells Terry to activate the dashcam footage that would have recorded the events of the previous minutes. This shows Burnne and his corrupt officers destroying evidence and shooting Marston.
Terry, Summer, and Marston escape Burnne and Sims’ pursuit in a police car. At the last minute, however, Sims changes his mind and gets Burnne out of the way.
Terry takes Summer and Marston to the hospital and secures the dashboard image. The film ends with Terry sitting on a bench with evidence in hand and closing his eyes to finally find peace.
As the Credits begin, it is unclear whether Terry’s evidence will bring down Burnne and his corrupt schemes.
Even the director has been shy about what at the end Rebel Ridge mean. Saulnier cryptically told Tudum that it was “from my hands:”
“As far as what the audience might take away, that’s thankfully out of my hands now. But I’m completely at peace knowing I gave it everything I got.”
Although one can hope that justice will be done Rebel Ridgethat conclusion is for the audience to draw for themselves.
Rebel Ridge stream on Netflix.
