This New Netflix Thriller Has A Huge Twist — And You’ll Be Hooked

This piece incorporates spoilers for “Rebel Ridge,” which premiered on Netflix on Sept. 6.

Aaron Pierre recalled precisely how he felt when he reached the tip of the script for Netflix’s “Rebel Ridge.”

Within the high-velocity action-thriller, the 30-year-old actor performs an ex-marine named Terry Richmond who, after a unstable encounter with a pair of soiled cops, faces off in opposition to a whole, almost all-white police pressure. In maybe the movie’s greatest twist, Pierre’s character survives the violent battle — which incorporates shootouts, hand-to-hand fight and even jiu-jitsu — by way of the very finish, one thing even he couldn’t imagine initially.

“I remember the first time I read it. Of course, on the way to the end of the script, I was super hyped, and I was on this wild, energized ride with Terry,” Pierre stated over Zoom. “But I did have this nervousness when I was reading it for the first time, like, ‘All of this is cool and dope, but what’s going to happen to my boy?’”

From the beginning, “Rebel Ridge” thrusts Terry into an unraveling story about systemic injustice, institutional corruption, prejudice and greed within the small Southern city of Shelby Springs. It begins with the protagonist on an pressing mission to put up bail for his cousin, who’s been arrested. Alongside the way in which, he’s abruptly stopped by the police, who seize his life financial savings and derail his plan to avoid wasting his cousin’s life. His technique of decision nearly flip lethal throughout a struggle with native police Chief Sandy Burnne (Don Johnson), particularly after Terry uncovers a sinister legal conspiracy stemming from the police division. Nevertheless, in contrast to the widespread consequence we see in real-life escalated conditions involving Black folks and police, director-writer Jeremy Saulnier envisioned a unique conclusion for Terry — one the place the Black man lives.

“I wanted to see if I can get this guy across the finish line,” Saulnier stated of the film’s intentions on Zoom. “If so, how might that actually play out? Because we all know, having Terry Richmond go toe-to-toe with the officers, certain things needed to happen to get him across the finish line. I was very cognizant of that as a storyteller and always looking for plausibility and emotional truth.”

Saulnier is aware of his graphic filmography (“Blue Ruin,” “Green Room,” “Hold the Dark”) over time has “filled my audiences with dread.” Even “Rebel Ridge” carries the specter of violence over nearly each second within the filmmaker’s two-hour-plus movie, up till the final scene. However together with his new Netflix providing, Saulnier needed to spare audiences one other “gut punch” by attaining a narrative that captured the spirit of traditional American motion and addressed a number of the nation’s most taboo topics: race and policing.

Saulnier wrote the script for “Rebel Ridge” in 2018, impressed by the idea of civil asset forfeiture, a authorized method the federal government can seize property suspected of being linked to legal exercise with out formally charging somebody with against the law. Terry wrestles with this predicament all through the film’s first half, which, sadly, results in the dying of his cousin. Nevertheless, it units up an explosive again half of the movie, through which he surprisingly escapes unimaginable circumstances to uncover a deep-rooted scheme that’s taken maintain of the native township.

The twist-and-turn plot hooked Pierre, who stepped into the function of Terry after John Boyega’s 2021 departure, though Pierre credited Saulnier’s “beautiful screenplay” wholly for getting him absolutely onboard.

“It’s not every day that an opportunity like this presents itself,” Pierre stated of his main motion function. “The script is of such a high quality that I was immediately thrilled to even be in connection with it. And when I got connected with Jeremy, that was one of the first things I articulated to him — the nuance, details and dynamic nature of not only the script but all of the characters. It just is a beautiful screenplay. So, for me, it was undeniable. There’s no world where I would’ve said anything but yes to be part of this project.”

Saying sure to the pulse-pounding motion and gripping story on the middle of “Rebel Ridge” was straightforward for Pierre. Going into manufacturing, he got here ready with a help system he developed early on in his profession to protect his psychological well being in conditions the place he knew he’d be triggered — like portraying a person oppressed by a system that was by no means designed to guard him.

“I knew that, as a Black man, I wanted to, in my career, pursue telling stories that made my community, my diaspora, feel seen and heard,” Pierre stated. “So I knew that on that journey, I would be in situations where I would have to allow myself to be vulnerable, to be triggered. In the context of film, cinema, television and theater, I will do that always because I feel like that’s a small way that I can make my community feel seen, respected and appreciated.”

The laborious half for Pierre started together with his limitless hours of motion coaching to construct Terry’s muscular physique and put together his innate survival expertise for the massive display, to not point out getting acquainted with the supply materials that resonated in additional methods than one. Although the actor grew up throughout the pond in south London, away from the problems of recent America, he discovered widespread floor with Terry’s “fiercely loyal” pursuit of justice.

“Terry embodies characteristics that I greatly admire,” Pierre stated “His capacity to be centered, grounded, assured and have this mental clarity in any situation, that’s something that I really aspire to have.”

One occasion Pierre introduced up that highlights these traits is within the ultimate moments of “Rebel Ridge,” the place Terry units off a showdown between himself and the cops and threatens to reveal a townwide cash scheme Sandy concocted to resolve a wrongful dying settlement. One after the other, he picks off the horde of officers by way of a sea of flying bullets and tear gasoline as he races to show over proof of the cops’ corruption. It’s an extremely calculated, high-action sequence that teases Terry’s presumed demise however turns into his satisfying hero second.

“I just felt this wave of relief, of joy, that he survived such tumultuous and volatile situations,” Pierre stated of his response to Terry’s destiny. “I felt that that is something that would resonate with people when they watched it.”

Saulnier echoed comparable sentiments about his film’s resolute ending, including, “The film is certainly harrowing at times, but some people have a euphoric response to [Terry surviving], whether it be wish fulfillment or seeing the sky through to the end. It’s a new kind of feedback for me, and it’s pretty addictive to hear [audiences] screaming, laughing and clapping with joy.”

Pierre seems ahead to viewers’ reactions to the action-packed thrills and emotionally charged scenes that he and the “Rebel Ridge” crew poured a lot into. To him, the most effective reward is realizing audiences will, hopefully, be intensely moved by this undertaking he holds so close to and pricey.

“We all were so invested. I think for that reason, on the days where there were emotional scenes, we all felt it,” Pierre stated. “And that actually led to us all having the capacity to empathize and hold each other and love on each other during this intense but beautiful shoot that we would do an infinite amount of times. Again, this movie, it’s something I really hold close to my heart.”