If you haven’t seen any of filmmaker Jeremy Saulnier’s films then you’re missing out. His 2014 film, “Blue Ruin,” was a great crime-thriller and 2016’s “Green Room,” a dark and nasty neo-Nazi revenge thriller, played like a horror movie. Saulnier’s knack for detailed visceral violence makes you feel every gunshot, every stabbing and every punch.
His first film in over five years, “Rebel Ridge” has had a tumultuous journey. This is the infamous film that had, original lead actor, John Boyega abruptly walking out of the set in 2021, under controversial circumstances. After Boyega left, Aaron Pierre replaced him, and filming resumed in early 2022. The cast is now composed of Pierre, Don Johnson, James Badge Dale, James Cromwell, Anna Sophia, and Robb Emory Cohen.
I hope this turns out to be true, but hidden deep at the bottom of Deadline’s piece about actor Steve Zissis is the claim that “Rebel Ridge” will be released “later this year” by Netflix.
Saulnier had recently spoken, for the first time, about the chaotic experience of shooting “Rebel Ridge,” which did not show up in Netflix’s recently announced 2024 lineup. Speaking to Film Stories, Saulnier described the making of “Rebel Ridge” as “tumultuous.”
“We came back three years in a row to make that movie,” he told the outlet.
Saulnier says the budget of the film ballooned from the originally reported $25 million to around $40 million. It’s become the biggest undertaking of his career. Filming on “Rebel Ridge” wrapped in July 2022, with Saulnier announcing the completion of the film on Twitter/X; “Third time was indeed the charm,” he wrote at the time.
Last we checked, the film was in the middle of sound mixing in April. This timeline does indeed support a 2024 release. Last summer, I posted a test reaction of “Rebel Ridge.” This one happened in the West Coast. It was very positive:
The film had a similar tone and style to “Blue Ruin” with a relatively simple situation spiraling out of control, but this time it involves a small town conspiracy and a very subdued and mysterious stranger akin to Gosling in “Drive” and Phoenix in “You Were Never Really Here.” The action here is considerably smaller than “Blue Ruin” but it’s tightly wound in its drama, with all the twists and revelations, that it’s just as thrilling. Pierre and Robb are really good and fit perfectly into the feeling of likable characters. You feel immediately terrified and hoping Saulnier doesn’t inflict the worst on them; something he does a lot here and it’s tense in every scene. Gorgeous compositions of middle America and awesomely choreographed sequences of action, better than “Hold the Dark” and reminiscent of something like “The Standoff at Sparrow Creek” and “Cold in July.”
Although no official plot details have been revealed for “Rebel Ridge,” it is being described as the tale of an ex-marine who takes on a group of dirty cops in a high-velocity thriller exploring systemic injustices through bone-breaking action sequences, suspense, and dark humor.
The condemned film is Ilya Khrzhanovsky’s “DAU,” which will compete for the Golden Lion next month. The 3h15-minute film follows the release of “DAU. Natasha,” which won the Silver Bear in Berlin in 2020.