Rebel Ridge ending explained: Did Terry manage to get his hands on the dashcam footage?

Jeremy Saulnier's Rebel Ridge is now available on Netflix, starring Aaron Pierre as Terry Richmond, an ex-marine who rides into a small town to bail out his cousin. Unaware of the deep-seated racism in the community, Terry is violently ejected from his bike before reaching the courthouse, thrusting him into the heart of a vast conspiracy.

Starring alongside Pierre is an impressive cast including Don Johnson and AnnaSophia Robb who bring in their talents to make Rebel Ridge a suspenseful, gripping drama, with explosive action sequences.

The Netflix action thriller made its way onto the streaming platform today and can be watched with a subscription to Netflix.

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Terry and Summer team up to expose the corrupt police force and get justice for Mike in Rebel Ridge

From the moment Terry arrived in town, he was faced with obstacles from law enforcement authorities where even his life was put in danger. Unwilling to back down from a fight, Terry is determined to fulfill his purpose of coming to post bail for his cousin Mike. However, when he is about to do that, he is pulled over by the cops who seize his money without any proof of criminal activity.

Terry is stonewalled by Chief Sandy Burnne, but finds an unlikely ally in court clerk Summer. Knowing Mike will be killed if transferred to state prison, Terry takes it upon himself to prevent it.

Unfortunately, Terry fails because the Chief moved up Mike's transfer and refused Terry's deal of letting him have $10,000 for bail. Mike is fatally attacked in prison and it is then that the Chief recognizes his error, gives the money back and allows Terry to leave town.

On the other hand, Summer and Terry find out that Mike was just one of several people arrested and left in jail for 90 days over the past two years and none of the arrests were formally charged as all were arrested for offenses that don't carry jail time.

Summer begins investigating the string of arrests, but her efforts are quickly derailed when corrupt officers target her. They drug her, jeopardizing both her career and her fight for custody of her daughter.

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Rebel Ridge leaves an ending open for interpretation

If footage of Mike's arrest surfaced, it would spark a lawsuit the Chief couldn't afford, especially after a wrongful death suit two years earlier nearly bankrupted the town. He was given a year to reform the department.

However, the Chief instead started building a healthy stream of money through civil asset forfeiture, with the proceeds funding the department, the town's payroll, public works, and more. Had Mike managed to sue the department over his arrest and won, it would have spelled trouble for the Chief.

To expose this corruption in the Shelby Springs police department, Terry and Summer break into the courthouse to steal the dashcam footage stored on SD cards. They manage to find them, but Summer is taken by Officer Lann and their plan goes astray.

Terry arranges another attempt to recover the footage, setting up an exchange the next day. However, things go wrong when he mistakenly trusts Officer Sims. Sims betrays them, destroys the SD cards, and holds Terry at gunpoint, ruining their last chance to retrieve the files.

It is then that Officer Marston reveals himself as Summer's friend and he is shot in the leg as a result. But Terry manages to get him to safety and Marston tells him to activate the dashcam which will capture what happens three minutes before the recording starts. This would expose the Chief and his corrupt officers for destroying evidence, among other things.

In the last moments of Rebel Ridge, we see Terry, Summer, and Marston escape in a police cruiser and just as they are about to be chased down, Sims redeems herself and crashes into the Chief's car. In the final scene, they reach the hospital and Terry takes the dashcam footage from the car.

Rebel Ridge leaves the ending open to interpretation, not revealing whether Terry successfully uses the footage to take down the Chief and get justice for Mike. This ambiguity lets viewers hold on to the hope that the Chief will ultimately face the consequences of his actions.

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Don't miss Rebel Ridge now streaming on Netflix.