At long last, we have a really great Netflix original movie at #1 in the Top 10 list, dethroning the former #1, a truly terrible Netflix original movie. That awful movie is the horror film The Deliverance, and that good movie is Rebel Ridge, which has now debuted at #1 and is being widely watched as we speak.
The Deliverance reviewed horribly, supposedly based on a “true” ghost story (which was debunked in multiple ways). It has a 32% from critics, who are generally predisposed to be pretty kind to many horror movies, and a 47% from audiences, not much better. Thankfully, it has been replaced by a film doing much better, Rebel Ridge, which unlike a similarly-named Netflix original, Rebel Moon, is reviewing excellently with a 94% critic score and an 82% audience score. Here is the official synopsis for the film:
“Terry Richmond enters the town of Shelby Springs on a simple but urgent mission— post bail for his cousin and save him from imminent danger. But when Terry’s life’s savings is unjustly seized by law-enforcement, he’s forced to go head to head with local police chief Sandy Burnne and his combat-ready officers. Terry finds an unlikely ally in court clerk Summer McBride and the two become ensnared in a deep-rooted conspiracy within the remote township. As the stakes turn deadly, Terry must call upon his mysterious background to break the department’s hold on the community, bring justice to his own family— and protect Summer in the process.”
The film does not boast any truly major stars. It’s led by Aaron Pierre whose longest stint was on the Syfy show Krypton before this. The most recognizable name in the cast is Don Johnson of Miami Vice fame. I know who AnnaSophia Robb is, as I remember from roles when she was much younger like Race to Witch Mountain and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Now, somehow, she’s 30. Time flies.
It looks to be excellent and I will be giving it a watch this weekend. Frankly, I am a little surprised that the newly added Sonic the Hedgehog movie is at #3, given all the hype for the third movie with its trailer just released. I figured it would probably be #1, but not so. Emma Stone’s Aloha was up pretty high a few days ago but now it’s down to #5 as perhaps people realized that it’s actually terrible. Former #1, the also-bad Netflix Original The Union is down to #8. Super Mario Bros. still refuses to fall off the list at #10. Incredible.