The much-delayed latest picture from acclaimed US director Jeremy Saulnier (Blue Ruin; Green Room) finally launches on Netflix, with the charismatic British actor Aaron Pierre a creditable replacement for John Boyega, who abruptly exited the project in 2021 due to “family reasons”. And for the first third at least, Rebel Ridge works bracingly well, following Pierre’s formidable ex-marine Terry Richmond as he faces off against the corrupt police department of a small town in Louisiana.
But despite Pierre’s impressive physical presence (seriously, give this man an action franchise asap), sparky support from AnnaSophia Robb as a sympathetic junior court official, and a lavishly obnoxious turn from Don Johnson as a ruthless, bullying police chief, the film runs out of momentum, finding itself ensnared in a needlessly complicated web of intrigue and administrative shenanigans.
