Kyle Stanley

Jesus. I've said this before the first time I watched Jeremy Saulnier's Blue Ruin, but this man has an absolute knack for creating such grounded realistic action with the most claustrophobic score in his movies. I've repeatedly upheld my sentiment that his 2013 film Blue Ruin, while not a 5 star masterpiece in my eyes, is still one of the most gritty, most raw revenge stories I've ever seen put on film. Here in Rebel Ridge we have that same sentiment of a revenge story wrapped around exposing corrupt law enforcement that I was immediately engaged to for the first 45 minutes. But that's where I see the films biggest strengths IS the first 45 minutes. After that for about another hour until the climatic final 30 minutes, we're treated to some tough pacing that really tries to connect the dots together and while admittedly intriguing on the laws of legal and illegal content, doesn't connect with every viewer. But like I said, the climax makes up for that storytelling bridge and delivers on more of what we've come to expect from Saulnier's work. Performances are great especially from Aaron Pierre, who I've only seen from Shyamalan's Old in 2021 but he definitely had the likability and intimidation his protagonist Terry needed. And you can never go wrong with casting Don Johnson as law enforcement official cause he absolutely nails any one of them good or bad. While I found the ending to be a little abrupt, I still found it solid enough for my liking.