Starring: Aaron Pierre, Don Johnson, AnnaSophia Robb, David Denman, Emory Cohen, Steve Zissis, James Cromwell
OUR RATING: ★★★★☆
Story: Action thriller written and directed by Jeremy Saulnier. Rebel Ridge (2024) centers on Terry Richmond (Aaron Pierre), a former Marine who grapples his way through a web of small-town corruption when an attempt to post bail for his cousin escalates into a violent standoff with local police Chief Sandy Burnne (Don Johnson).
Where to Watch:
Best Action-Thriller Rebel Ridge Moments
1. Summer Agrees to Help Terry
Terry Richmond: So why are you helping me?
Summer McBride: Well, it’s pretty clear you need it. And I know what that’s like.
Terry Richmond: You found something?
Summer McBride: I poked around. Got poked back.
2. Burnne Breaks His Deal
Terry Richmond: Man, I thought we had a deal.
Chief Sandy Burnne: Well, that was the point.
Terry Richmond: Of what?
Chief Sandy Burnne: Misleading you.
Chief Sandy Burnne: You could offer me eternal life or a catfish sandwich, and the answer would still be the same. Especially since you stopped calling me “sir”, which is about the only thing you had going for you.
Terry Richmond: Well, see, that’s a courtesy I extend only so far. One of the perks of civilian life, you know.
3. PACE Acronym
Terry Richmond: [to Burnne] The acronym you need to worry about right now is PACE. P-A-C-E. Ever heard of it? It’s a planning methodology used for comm systems, but they found it could be applied anywhere. Nursing, engineering, parachute infiltrations, posting bail. So the P is for “primary”, that’s me riding into town with my bag of money. A is for “alternate”. That’s the deal we apparently never made. C is my “contingency”. That’s the restaurant owner you put out of business this morning. And there it is! Spot-on too, like you just ate s**t. Anyway, you got me burning through all these letters. And after this conversation, we already on E. You know what that stands for? Here come your peeps. You want to honor that deal or do I got to transition to E?
Summer McBride: Did you hurt someone?
Terry Richmond: Barely broke the skin. Think he’ll get out? Think they’ll send me to where he’s at?
Summer McBride: Was that your plan?
Terry Richmond: I ran out of plan.
Chief Sandy Burnne: You know the thing about a pi**ing contest? Everybody gets pi** on their boots.
4. After Mike’s Death
Chief Sandy Burnne: Just because you was right, doesn’t make us wrong. Right now, you got to choose between a bag full of money and our deepest sympathies, or thirty years minimum. Or worse, if you can’t stay in control.
Terry Richmond: To what? Walk away?
Terry Richmond: I didn’t ask to get paid off.
Chief Sandy Burnne: Son, I’m trying to make you whole. Now go haul boats, or sell that truck for cash. Whatever you decide to do, you do it damn far from here, because if you enter this township again, this’ll go another route.
5. Terry Tries to Leave Shelby Springs
Terry Richmond: [to Summer] If the revelation is that your Bama-a** town is corrupt, and my cousin and whoever else got f***ed over by these dudes, I don’t need convincing. I didn’t come here to set things right. I just wanted Mike not dead. Yet here we are.
Terry Richmond: I appreciate you giving a s**t.
Summer McBride: Well, I appreciate your appreciation.
6. Summer’s Revelation
Summer McBride: I’m a felon because of a lawn mower accessory.
Summer McBride: We’re over the town line. We should keep going.
Terry Richmond: Yeah, well, maybe you. These officers are quiet because they’re vulnerable. Whatever window we have, I guarantee you they’re closing it. They do, I’m dead. Won’t matter where I am.
Summer McBride: You think me too?
Terry Richmond: Bottom line up front? I don’t see how they let you walk away.
Terry Richmond: How I train, what I teach, most of it comes down to self-preservation. So I guess I just acted accordingly.
Terry Richmond: I don’t know enough about the afterlife to trust in it, so while I’m here, and he’s not, I got to haunt these m*****f***ers myself.
7. Terry and Summer Getting Justice
Summer McBride: What about taking fuel away from the fire?
Terry Richmond: It’s different now.
Summer McBride: How so?
Terry Richmond: We’re the fire.
Summer McBride: Just have a feeling tonight’s going to get pretty dark.
Terry Richmond: Isn’t that what nights do?
Summer McBride: This whole f***ing town couldn’t form a single spine between them. If I do get her back…
Terry Richmond: When you get her back.
Summer McBride: She’s got to know I got one.