Netflix thriller “Rebel Ridge” even surprised Aaron Pierre

This article contains spoilers for Rebel Ridge, which premiered on Netflix on September 6.

Aaron Pierre remembered exactly how he felt when he reached the end of the script for Netflix’s “Rebel Ridge.”

In the fast-paced action thriller, the 30-year-old actor plays an ex-Marine named Terry Richmond who, after a dangerous encounter with two corrupt cops, finds himself pitted against an entire, almost entirely white police force. Perhaps the film’s biggest twist is that Pierre’s character survives the brutal fight – which includes gunfights, hand-to-hand combat and even jiu-jitsu – to the end, something even he couldn’t believe at first.

“I remember the first time I read it. Of course I was super excited on the way to the end of the script and I was on this wild, high-energy journey with Terry,” Pierre said over Zoom. “But I was nervous when I first read it, like, ‘This is all cool and awesome, but what’s going to happen to my boy?'”

From the very beginning of “Rebel Ridge,” Terry is thrown into an unravelling story of systemic injustice, institutional corruption, prejudice and greed in the small Southern town of Shelby Springs. At the outset, the protagonist is on an urgent mission to post bail for his cousin, who has been arrested. Along the way, he is abruptly stopped by the police, who confiscate his entire life savings and thwart his plan to save his cousin’s life. His plan to save his cousin’s life nearly turns fatal during a dispute with local police chief Sandy Burnne (Don Johnson), especially after Terry uncovers a sinister criminal conspiracy emanating from the police. Unlike real-life escalated situations involving black people and the police, however, director and screenwriter Jeremy Saulnier envisioned a different ending for Terry — one in which the black man lives.

“I wanted to see if I could get this guy across the finish line,” Saulnier said of the film’s intentions on Zoom. “If so, how might that actually play out? Because we all know that certain things had to happen to get Terry Richmond across the finish line when he faces the cops. As a storyteller, I was very conscious of that and always looked for plausibility and emotional truth.”

Saulnier knows that his graphic filmography (“Blue Ruin,” “Green Room,” “Hold the Dark”) over the years “has filled my audience with fear.” Even “Rebel Ridge” is filled with violence in nearly every moment of the filmmaker’s two-hour-plus film, right up to the very last scene. But with his new Netflix offering, Saulnier wanted to spare audiences another “punch in the gut” by creating a story that captured the spirit of classic American action and addressed some of the country’s most taboo subjects: race and policing.

Saulnier wrote the screenplay for Rebel Ridge in 2018, taking inspiration from the concept of civil asset forfeiture, a legal way for the government to seize property suspected of being linked to criminal activity without anyone being formally charged. Terry wrestles with this predicament for the first half of the film, which sadly leads to the death of his cousin. However, this sets up an explosive second half of the film, where he escapes surprisingly impossible circumstances to uncover a deep-rooted plot that has gripped the local community.

The plot, with its unexpected twists and turns, captivated Pierre, who took over the role of Terry based on John Boyega’s 2021 film. departurealthough Pierre attributed it solely to Saulnier’s “beautiful script” that convinced him.

“An opportunity like this doesn’t come along every day,” Pierre said of starring in the action film. “The script is of such high quality that I was immediately excited to even be involved in it. And when I got in touch with Jeremy, that was one of the first things I explained to him – the nuances, details and dynamics of not just the script but all the characters. It’s just a beautiful script. So for me, it was undeniable. There’s no world in which I would have said anything other than yes to being part of this project.”

It was easy for Pierre to say “yes” to the pulse-pounding action and gripping story at the heart of Rebel Ridge. By the time he began production, he had developed a support system that protected his mental health in situations where he knew he would be provoked – such as portraying a man oppressed by a system that was never designed to protect him.

“I knew that as a Black man, I wanted to tell stories in my career that made my community, my diaspora, feel seen and heard,” Pierre said. “So I knew that on this journey I would be put in situations where I would have to allow myself to be vulnerable and allow myself to be provoked. In the context of film, cinema, television and theater, I will always do that because I feel like that is a small way to make my community feel seen, respected and valued.”

The hard part for Pierre began with his endless hours of action training to build Terry’s muscular physique and prepare his innate survival skills for the big screen, not to mention familiarizing himself with the source material, which touched him in more ways than one. Although the actor grew up across the pond in South London, far from the problems of modern America, he found common ground with Terry’s “fiercely loyal” pursuit of justice.

“Terry embodies qualities that I really admire,” Pierre said. “His ability to be centered, grounded and confident in any situation and to have that mental clarity is something I would really like to have.”

One example Pierre gave that highlights these qualities is the final moments of “Rebel Ridge,” where Terry instigates a confrontation between himself and the cops, threatening to expose a citywide money scheme hatched by Sandy to collect compensation for a wrongful death case. One by one, he takes out the horde of cops through a sea of ​​flying bullets and tear gas while running to provide evidence of the cops’ corruption. It’s an incredibly calculated, action-packed sequence that foreshadows Terry’s presumed death, but becomes his satisfying hero moment.

“I just felt a wave of relief, of joy that he survived such turbulent and unpredictable situations,” Pierre said of his reaction to Terry’s fate. “I felt like this was something that would resonate with people when they see it.”

Saulnier expressed similar sentiments about his film’s decisive ending, adding: “The film is certainly harrowing at times, but some people respond euphorically to (Terry’s survival), whether it’s through a wish being granted or seeing heaven by the end. That’s a new kind of feedback for me and it’s quite addictive to hear (the audience) scream, laugh and clap with joy.”

Pierre is looking forward to seeing audiences’ reactions to the action-packed and emotionally charged scenes that he and the Rebel Ridge crew have invested so much in. For him, the best reward is knowing that audiences will hopefully be deeply moved by this project that is so close to his heart.

“We were all so committed. I think that’s why on the days when there were emotional scenes, we all felt it,” Pierre said. “And that actually led to us all having the ability to empathize, hug and love each other during this intense but beautiful shoot that we would do endlessly. Again, this film is really close to my heart.”