Netflix’s New 95% Rotten Tomatoes Action Movie Completely Flips The Revenge Thriller Genre

A new Netflix action movie not only boasts an impressive Rotten Tomatoes score of 95% but also manages to perfectly flip the revenge thriller genre. Of all the movie genres, revenge thrillers are perhaps the most satisfying to watch because, for starters, they offer a sense of catharsis to viewers by walking through a character’s pursuit of seeking justice after being wronged. At the same time, well-written, acclaimed revenge thrillers also provide some moral clarity by featuring characters who either stop midway through their revenge-fueled journeys or go a little too far before digging two graves.

It is also hard not to feel a semblance of empowerment while watching underestimated or marginalized characters rise to the occasion to seek revenge by finally putting their foot down against injustice. For all these reasons, a new action movie on Netflix is a compelling watch. However, other than merely riffing on the well-worn tropes of the revenge thriller genre, this new film attempts to etch its own identity by subverting traditional genre conventions in some intriguing ways.

Rebel Ridge’s Badass Main Character Is Nothing Like A Typical Vengeful Lead

Terry Richmond Avoids Physical Confrontation For As Long As He Can

When it comes to Rebel Ridge‘s narrative structure, it initially unfolds like a typical revenge thriller. Right after the film’s opening credits, a former Marine, Terry Richmond, is wronged by police officers. After injuring him by ramming his bicycle off the road, the officers seize the money he wishes to use to bail his cousin out of prison.

The way Terry carries himself despite being pressed by the officers in the film’s opening arc hints that he is not a regular civilian. Owing to this, the possibility of violence looms over the film’s narrative from the very beginning, where Terry’s retaliation is depicted as a matter of if and not when.

However, unlike a typical vengeful lead, Terry is cerebral and calculative. He feels enraged by his situation but never lets his feelings blind him. He realizes that one wrong move would only make things worse, so he carefully plans his next step instead of going on a killing spree. Even as he bides time, Rebel Ridge builds tension around how and when Terry will take action against the police officers who wronged him. But every time Terry sets out to set things right, the former Marine surprisingly only applies the least amount of force despite having a time-bound mission.

Terry Richmond’s Zero Body Count Separates Him From Rebel Ridge’s Villains

While Terry Holds Himself Back, The Police Mindlessly Puts A Target On His Back

In a typical revenge thriller, a character like Terry Richmond would only hold himself back to a certain extent before unleashing his true potential and showing what he is capable of. However, in the Jeremy Saulnier movie, Richmond always ensures that he is resorting to non-lethal methods of retaliation. This perfectly serves the narrative in more ways than one. During a pivotal scene where Richmond finally confronts police Chief Sandy Burnne, officers at the police station learn that Richmond was an instructor at the MCMAP (Marine Corps Martial Arts Program).

This little detail about his past establishes that Richmond can single-handedly take down multiple enemies without relying on lethal weapons. At the same time, Richmond’s non-lethal approach and zero body count throughout the film also separate him from the immoral police officers. While they do not think twice before putting a target on his back in Rebel Ridge‘s ending arc, Terry Richmond (played by Aaron Pierre) maintains a strict moral code where he only acts out of defense and avoids killing any police officers even when they outnumber and corner him.

These aspects of Terry Richmond’s characterization establish that Jeremy Saulnier did not want Rebel Ridge to be a typical revenge thriller that portrays that all police officers deserve to die. He wanted it to be a conspiracy thriller about a man whose faith in the legal system ultimately encourages the morally good cops to stand for what is right. This is antithetical to the approach taken by most revenge thrillers.

Jeremy Saulnier’s Movies Always Bring New Spins On Familiar Tropes

Blue Ruin & Green Room Also Defy Genre Conventions

Jeremy Saulnier’s Blue Ruin‘s plot sells it as a typical revenge thriller. However, as the movie unfolds and its revenge-seeking protagonist gets closer to finding vengeance for his parents’ murder, he realizes that they were equally responsible for their deaths as their killer. In most survival thrillers, the story usually lingers on violence, often leaving characters with little to no development. In Saulnier’s Green Room, however, the characters never appear paper thin, even though the film does not shy away from portraying gore and disturbing scenes throughout its runtime.

Key Background

• Jeremy Saulnier made his feature film directorial debut with Murder Party in 2007.
• Saulnier also directed two episodes of True Detective season 3.
• The director has not helmed any movie or TV projects since 2019 because he was busy working on Rebel Ridge.
• Rebel Ridge’s production took so long because it was initially delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic and later by John Boyega’s exit.

Saulnier’s line of work establishes that he has mastered the art of taking simple concepts and familiar genre tropes and turning them into something deeply engaging and thought-provoking. His Netflix action thriller, Rebel Ridge, also achieves something similar by raising its story’s overarching tension without ever relying on violence. Hopefully, the director will continue to build on this approach in future projects and deliver more critical and commercial hits like Rebel Ridge.