Plot
Terry Richmond, a Marine Corps veteran, cycles into the town of Shelby Springs, Louisiana to post bail for his cousin Mike Simmons and buy a pickup truck so they can make an honest living. He is rammed and detained by two police officers, Evan Marston and Steve Lann, who seize his $36,000 via civil forfeiture, despite the money being legitimate.
The courthouse clerk, Elliot, refuses to help Terry. Another employee, Summer McBride, promises to prepare the forms in case Terry can get the required $10,000 before Mike's Thursday transfer to state prison where he would be in danger for informing on a gangster. Terry goes to the police station and tries to report the cash as stolen to Officer Jessica Sims. He is confronted by Lann and police chief Sandy Burnne. Terry offers to drop the matter if he gets $10,000 back for bail and is told to return and resolve the issue on Monday.
On Monday, Terry arrives at the station but is told that the bus transferring Mike has just left. He catches up on his bike and tells Mike to stay safe until he posts bail. Terry calls his former business partner Liu but is informed that he can no longer send money because police raided his restaurant. Terry returns to the station and repeats his offer but Burnne refuses despite saying it was reasonable. A close quarters combat expert, he subdues Lann and Burnne, and forces Sims to hand over the bail money and help him escape. Terry manages to post bail with Summer's help but is detained.
Terry is taken to a hospital by Marston and Burnne. The chief tells him that Mike was stabbed after processing and offers the remaining $26,000, the truck he was going to buy, and to not pursue charges if he leaves town. Terry accepts and is informed by hospital staff that Mike has died. While getting a ride out of town that evening from Summer, Terry declines to help her investigate cases of people being held in jail for 90 days over misdemeanors.
That night, after picking up the truck, Terry receives a call from Summer, who was injected with drugs by police, and returns to help. The next morning, she must take a urine test after the court is informed about her drug use, which jeopardizes her child custody. As Terry leaves town, Lann flags him down, throws a gun into his car, and shoots him. Terry escapes and regroups with Summer at Liu's restaurant, where Liu, a Chinese medic during the Korean War, patches him up.
That night, Summer and Terry interrogate Elliot and the judge, who reveal a coverup to avoid transparency measures imposed after a legal settlement nearly bankrupted the town. People are held for 90 days on misdemeanors where they are unable to get public defenders to seek production of their police dashcam arrest footage before the data retention period expires. Terry and Summer break into the courthouse basement and retrieve the SD cards as police arrive and start a fire. He escapes, but she is captured trying to destroy her urine sample.
Terry and Lann arrange a swap: Summer for the cards at Rebel Ridge the following morning. While Lann and an armed police contingent wait at the exchange site, Terry breaks into the police station using the truck and subdues Burnne. He gives Sims a loaded gun believing that she is "Serpico" (the officer who provided information to Summer). But Sims detains Terry as the cops return. Lann destroys the cards and reveals that Summer is at risk of overdosing. Marston protests, which makes Terry realize that he is actually "Serpico”. Marston is shot in the femoral by Burnne and starts bleeding out. Burnne tells the cops to kill Terry and pin Marston's death on him, but Terry defeats the officers who approach him, including Lann.
Marston tells Terry to activate a police cruiser siren, saving the previous three minutes of dashcam footage, and walks Terry through administering Narcan on Summer. The three flee in the cruiser with police in pursuit. When ordered to do a PIT maneuver, Sims takes out Burnne's vehicle instead and detains him. The remaining cops escort them to the hospital and report that state police are incoming. Marston and Summer are admitted, while Terry secures the incriminating dashcam footage and sits in a hallway.
Production
In November 2019, John Boyega came on board to star in the film, written and directed by Jeremy Saulnier. [1] In February 2020, Don Johnson, Erin Doherty, James Badge Dale, Zsané Jhé, and James Cromwell were added to the cast. [2] In April 2021, AnnaSophia Robb and Emory Cohen joined, with Robb replacing Doherty. [3]
Filming was slated to begin in April 2020 but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [4] [5] Principal photography eventually began in Louisiana on May 3, 2021. [6] In June 2021, Boyega left the project during filming due to "family reasons". Filming paused as a result in order to find a replacement for Boyega. [7] It was later reported that Boyega had allegedly abandoned the project due to a variety of reasons, including his dissatisfaction with the script and his accommodations, although Boyega denied such allegations. [8] In October, Aaron Pierre replaced Boyega. [9] In April 2022, David Denman was added to the cast to replace Badge Dale, before production restarted on April 25. [10] [11] Production wrapped on July 24. [12] In March 2024, Saulnier said the film was in the final stages of post-production. [13]
