REBEL RIDGE (2024)
Don Johnson as Chief Sandy Burnne
AnnaSophia Robb as Summer McBride
David Denman as Officer Evan Marston
Emory Cohen as Officer Steve Lann
Steve Zissis as Elliot
Zsané Jhé as Officer Jessica Sims
Dana Lee as Mr. Liu
James Cromwell as Judge
Rebel Ridge is
an American crime action thriller film written, produced,
directed and edited by Jeremy Saulnier. The film stars Aaron Pierre as
Terry Richmond, a former Marine who has the funds needed to post bail
for his cousin unjustly seized via civil forfeiture by a corrupt
police force. Don Johnson, AnnaSophia Robb, David Denman, Emory
Cohen, Steve Zissis, Zsané Jhé, Dana Lee, and James Cromwell also
appear in the film.
Plot
Terry Richmond, a former Marine, cycles into the town
of Shelby Springs to post bail for his cousin Mike Simmons and buy a
truck so they can make an honest living. He is rammed and detained by two
police officers, Evan Marston and Steve Lann, who seize
his $36000 via civil forfeiture despite the money being
legitimate.
The courthouse clerk, Elliot, refuses to help Terry. Another
employee, Summer McBride, promises to prepare the forms in case Terry can get
the required $10000 before Mike's Thursday transfer to state prison
where he would be in danger for informing on a gangster. Terry goes
to the police station and tries to report the cash as stolen with Officer
Jessica Sims. He is confronted by Lann and police chief Sandy Burnne. Terry
offers to drop the matter if he gets $10000 back for bail and is told
to return and resolve the issue on Monday.
On Monday, Terry arrives at the station but is told that the
bus transferring Mike has just left. He catches up on his bike and tells Mike
to stay safe until he posts bail. Terry calls his former business partner Liu
but is informed that he can no longer send money because police raided the
restaurant. Terry returns to the station and repeats his offer but Burnne
refuses despite saying it was reasonable. Terry, a close quarters combat expert,
subdues Lann and Burnne, and forces Sims to hand over the bail money and help
him escape. Terry manages to post bail with Summer's help but is detained.
Terry is taken by Marston and Burnne to a hospital. Burnne
says that Mike was stabbed after processing and offers Terry the
remaining $26000, the truck he was going to buy, and to not pursue charges
if he leaves town. Terry accepts and is informed by hospital staff that Mike
died. While getting a ride out of town that evening from Summer, Terry declines
to help her investigate cases of people being held in jail for 90 days over
misdemeanors.
That night, after picking up the truck, Terry receives a
call from Summer, who was injected with drugs by police, and returns to help.
The next morning, Summer must take a urine test after the court is
informed about her drug use, which jeopardizes her child custody. As Terry
leaves town, Lann flags him down, throws a gun into his car, and shoots him.
Terry escapes and regroups with Summer at Liu's restaurant, where Liu, a Chinese medic
during the Korean War, patches him up.
That night, Summer and Terry interrogate Elliot and the
judge, who reveal a coverup to avoid transparency measures imposed after a
legal settlement nearly bankrupted the town. People are held for 90 days on
misdemeanors so they are unable to get public defenders to seek production of
their police dashcam arrest footage before the data retention period
expires. Terry and Summer break into the courthouse basement and retrieve
the SD cards as police arrive and start a fire. Terry escapes, but
Summer is captured trying to destroy her urine sample.
Terry and Lann arrange to swap Summer for the cards at Rebel
Ridge the following morning. While Lann and a police contingent wait at the
exchange site, Terry breaks into the station using the truck, subdues Burnne,
but is detained by Sims as the cops return. Lann destroys the cards and reveals
that Summer is at risk of overdosing. Marston protests, but is shot in
the femur by Burnne and starts bleeding out. Burnne tells the cops to
kill Terry and pin Marston's death on him, but Terry defeats most of the
officers who fight him, including Lann.
Marston tells Terry to activate a police cruiser siren,
saving the previous three minutes of dashcam footage, and walks Terry through
administering Narcan on Summer. Terry flees with Marston and Summer
in the cruiser with police in pursuit. When ordered to do a PIT maneuver,
Sims takes out Burnne's vehicle instead and detains him. The remaining cops
escort them to the hospital and report that state police are incoming. Marston
and Summer are admitted, after which Terry secures the incriminating dashcam
footage and sits in a hallway.