REBEL RIDGE (2024) Netflix
A man gets stopped by the police on the road, and they find a large amount of cash on him. He claims it’s for his cousin’s bail. The police confiscate the money and say they’ll only return it if the man can prove his innocence in court. But he doesn’t have that kind of time. Being a Marine veteran, he takes matters into his own hands, leading to intense, well-shot action scenes featuring a strong cast: Don Johnson ("Miami Vice"), James Cromwell ("LA Confidential"), the award-winning David Denman, the fierce AnnaSophia Robb ("Bridge to Terabithia"), and the leading man, Aaron Pierre, who looks like Eddie Murphy after serious gym time—calm yet powerful.
What the movie portrays is completely legal in the U.S. It’s called civil forfeiture, where law enforcement can seize assets they believe are connected to a crime. In America, the principle of habeas corpus has been so weakened that citizens now must prove their innocence in court. Lawmakers justify this as a tool in the war on drug traffickers who often carry large sums of cash.
Beyond the erosion of civil rights, the law also incentivizes police misconduct, as it allows departments to use the confiscated funds directly in their budgets. Coupled with the constant defunding of police forces, it essentially amounts to a privatization of the police, though it’s never called that. Following the privatization of prisons, now we’re seeing it in law enforcement too.
Here’s where I add my own observation: the slogan from well intended individuals to cut all police funding is colossal stupidity. It serves as a convenient cover for the actions of American conservatives.
The movie is good if you want to spend your night with some potato chips .
P.S I made my own
