Warning: Rebel Ridge spoilers ahead!
Small-town corruption meets a former marine with a deadly skillset in Netflix’s Rebel Ridge.
Written and directed by Jeremy Saulnier, the film follows ex-Marine Terry Richmond (Aaron Pierre) as he attempts to post bail for his cousin Mike. While riding his bike through Shelby Springs, two police officers decide to harass Terry and discover that he has thousands of dollars on his person — the money he planned to use to get his cousin out of jail.
Deputies Steve Lann (Emory Cohen) and Evan Marston (David Denman) seize the cash not knowing that they’ve just made enemies with a Marine Corps Martial Arts Program graduate who specializes in non-lethal combat.
Terry tries to peacefully reclaim his property, but Chief Sandy Burnne (Don Johnson), who is keeping his police department funded with money seized through civil asset forfeiture, has no interest in negotiations. Civil asset forfeiture is a legal process in which police are allowed to keep and/or sell any property they allege has been involved with criminal activity, even before a trial has occurred. Tensions rise exponentially after Terry learns that his cousin Mike was killed in prison. For the former marine, there’s nothing left to do but get revenge by exposing the corruption within the Shelby Springs Police Department.
While Saulnier told Tudum that there is “some catharsis” during Rebel Ridge‘s two-hour runtime, the ending still left some viewers with questions.
Here’s everything to know about the Rebel Ridge ending.
How did Rebel Ridge end?
With the help of court assistant Summer McBride (AnnaSophia Robb) — who has an unnamed informant in the police department — Terry is able to get to the bottom of the small-town corruption by interrogating Judge Logston (James Cromwell). Eaten up by a guilty conscience, he reveals that he’s been aiding Burnne in his efforts to hike up bail and keep defendants in jail “purgatory” for 90 days — the exact length of time dashcam footage is held before being deleted, thus erasing evidence of their wrongful imprisonment.
Convinced that the footage is proof of police misconduct, Terry and Summer break into town hall to retrieve the SD cards containing the evidence. Summer is ultimately captured by police and Terry retaliates by kidnapping a rookie officer. The exchange of hostages is meant to take place at Rebel Ridge, but Terry heads to the police station in the hopes of subduing Burnne while all his officers are away. He’s stopped by Deputy Jessica Sims (Zsané Jhé), who he mistakenly thought was Summer’s informant. She turns Terry over to her fellow officers — but Summer’s true informant, Deputy Marston steps in.
After Marston jumps to Terry’s defense, Burnne shoots him in the leg. Terry, using his Marine training, manages to get Marston and Summer out of the shootout alive and due to quick thinking on Marston’s part, his dashcam footage captures it all.
The police chase after the trio whose car has a flat tire. Speed is not on their side and Terry, Summer and Marston come to terms with the fact that the corrupt team of officers will take lethal action to get their hands on the dashcam footage.
Their fate changes when Sims flips sides and rams her vehicle into Burnne’s SUV. The remaining officers in pursuit take note and escort Terry’s car to the hospital instead of chasing them. Terry, Summer and Marston arrive safely and Burnne is taken into custody by state police. The film ends with Terry retrieving the digital video recorder (DVR) from Marston’s police car before sitting down on a bench in the hospital.
Why did Marston and Sims start helping Terry?
During the shootout at the police station, it’s clear that some of the officers are uncertain about where their loyalties should lie after watching Burnne shoot their fellow officer, Marston.
“Not sure who to shoot at,” one officer says to Sims, who responds, “Then maybe don’t shoot.”
When Sims runs Burnne off the road, the police force seemingly feels morally compelled to follow her lead, escorting Marston and Summer to the hospital where they receive life-saving medical attention.
Is Rebel Ridge based on a true story?
No, but Saulnier’s movie is certainly not outside of the scope of reality.
“This film is not based on a particular incident, but elements of it could certainly happen,” the director told Tudum. “I’m interested in examining corrupt systems — not so much how they’re built, but how they persist.”
He added, “For this movie, I wanted to tap into how the rest of us react to said [corrupt] systems, from corrupt politicians down to the endless loop of a customer service call gone wrong.”
Is civil asset forfeiture real?
Yes. Saulnier built the movie around civil asset forfeiture to expose the “insane loophole in anti-drug regulation that allows law enforcement to seize property from ordinary citizens without any proof of criminal activity.”
According to Cornell Law School, civil forfeiture comes from English law and was popular both in the days of Prohibition, when law enforcement would seize the property of bootleggers in order to slow the production and sale of alcohol, and during the War on Drugs in the 1980s.
Did Aaron Pierre perform his own stunts in Rebel Ridge?
Pierre, who has experience with boxing and marital arts, performed most of the stunts seen in the film.
“I did not do everything, and I have to champion and celebrate our fantastic stunt team who helped bring this piece to life,” he told PEOPLE. “But I certainly didn’t go one day during filming without having at least a bruise or a bump or a scratch or a graze or a cut.”
While talking to Netflix, Saulnier recalled the scene where Terry drags Marston behind a parked car after he’s been shot.
“We had a wire on [David] just so Aaron wouldn’t burn himself out after four or five takes because David is a big guy, 6-foot-4,” he said. “After we got a few in the can, Aaron asked us if he could drag David on his own for real, without any wires, and everyone agreed to give it a shot. That showcases Aaron’s dedication. And that, of course, is the take that made it into the movie.”
Source: People
