Commentary: ‘Rebel Ridge’ And The Expectation Of Hyper-Reality
by Frank Martin
For the most part, stories take place in hyper-reality. The events and circumstances that transpire are crafted to tell the most engaging plot possible. Even movies that are based on true events manipulate and fabricate certain details to get the maximum impact out of the narrative. But not all stories have the same level of hyper-reality. Some stories are incredibly grounded and try to make everything from its action to its character motivations as realistic as possible. Other stories ramp things up to a ridiculous degree. The key is to inform your audience in a way that allows them to know what type of reality to expect. This is where Rebel Ridge runs into trouble.
The film begins as a vet named Terry (Aaron Pierre) rides his bike into town to post bail for his cousin. The tension kicks off when a police officer hits Terry’s bike, causing him to fall. He did this because Terry had headphones on and couldn’t hear nor see the patrol car. Upon finding the cash Terry planned to use for bail, the officers confiscate it claiming it could be drug money. In reality, the cops were part of a criminal enterprise to steal confiscated money to fund their own departments because of budget cuts. After the improper seizure, Terry uses his training to take down the corrupt officers with the help of a recovering heroin addict.
This plot is incredibly dense with a lot of twists and turns. So many, in fact, that it’s hard to not view the story with a high level of hyper-reality. And yet, the film’s tone plays the story straight, which gives the audience a sense that it isn’t going to have as hyper a reality as it really does. The story of a traveling vet being harassed by local policemen obviously draws a lot of comparisons to the first Rambo film, First Blood. That movie had its fair share of hyper-reality, too, but not nearly the same level as Rebel Ridge. The audience expects a believable level of reality from First Blood, which is exactly what it gets. The same can’t be said for Rebel Ridge as it jam packs a lot of unbelievable details and crazy plot developments into its otherwise grounded universe.
Rebel Ridge is now streaming on Netflix.
