Two new Netflix movies you need to see ASAP

'Rebel Ridge' and 'Will & Harper' are very different experiences—but they also share something in common...

Rebel Ridge, a finely-tuned crime thriller, was released on Netflix on Sept. 6. Will & Harper, a heartfelt documentary about transitioning, is currently in theaters for a short time before hitting the service on Sept. 27.

They are both phenomenal, for very different reasons.

But they also have something incredibly important in common, but we’ll get to that…

Rebel Ridge is the latest from Green Room director Jeremy Saulnier. It stars Aaron Pierre as Terry Richmond, a former Marine who bikes into a small town, his backpack stuffed with cash to bail out his cousin. The funds are seized by corrupt cops through a process known as civil asset forfeiture, and as Terry tries to get the money back and save his cousin, things spiral out of control…

There are a lot of reasons to love this movie. It’s a perfectly-calibrated thriller, ratcheting up the tension in such a thoughtful, methodical way that it commands your attention throughout. It’s a star-making turn for Pierre—his presence, his ability to have an entire conversation with a glance… this guy is going to be the next big thing. Don Johnson continues to cement himself as the go-to guy when you need a solid bastard. There’s a Wikipedia reference rooted into one of the best “oh shit” moments I’ve heard in a while.

But more than that, it subverts the expectations you might have going into this kind of movie. I don’t want to spoil it, but I can say this: Terry isn’t out for revenge, he’s out for justice. Those are two very different things, and there’s a mindfulness here I found surprising, especially from Saulnier, who doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to violence.

Rather, he lands a knockout blow by delivering a meditation on violence.

Civil asset forfeiture sits at the center of this story: that police officers are legally allowed to take money and property from people, if they believe those things were acquired illegally, like through a drug deal. They don’t have to prove it, they have to believe it. It was meant to gut drug cartels, but in recent years, police departments have been using it to essentially rob people (those people tending to be people of color).

And oftentimes, the legal process of getting that money back is impossible, so the money ends up back in the budgets (or, let’s be honest, pockets) of police departments.

It’s an issue I’ve long wanted to build a story around, but after seeing Rebel Ridge I’m not going to pursue it. I don’t even feel bad. Saulnier knocked it so far out of the park this can serve as the final word on the subject.

Next up is Will & Harper.

This is a road trip documentary following comedian Will Ferrell and Saturday Night Live writer Harper Steele, who informed her friends during the pandemic that she planned to transition. She and Ferrell were longtime pals and collaborators, starting at SNL around the same time.

Before transitioning, Harper took regular cross-country road trips, luxuriating in the Americana of truck stops and dive bars and greasy spoons. But she was afraid to do it as a 60-year-old woman, post-transition—and how could she not be, in our current political hellscape?

So she and Ferrell agree to spend 16 days on the road together, from New York City to Los Angeles. It’s an opportunity for Ferrell to ask questions and get to know more about Harper’s transition, while offering her the bubble of his celebrity as a form of protection.

I don’t recall the last time I laughed so hard during a movie. There is no difference between Ferrell’s on-screens schtick and his real-life behavior. He and Steele play off each other beautifully, in that comfort space granted by longtime friends who understand each other’s senses of humor.

I also don’t recall the last time I cried this much during a movie.

There are some hard moments. When Harper talks about the dark nights of the soul she experienced throughout her life. When they stop at a steakhouse in Texas, attempting to take on a steak-eating challenge… the vibe is very clearly off, and the documentary shares tweets from patrons—one reads something like “who is this creature sitting across from Will Ferrell?”

But there are some beautiful moments, too.

The pair stop at a roadside bar, and Harper asks to go in alone first, as a show of independence, and says she’ll call Ferrell if there’s a problem. It’s immediately terrifying—there are Confederate and Trump flags on the wall. When Harper finally calls Ferrell to come in, he discovers Harper sitting at a table full of people, enjoying drinks and pleasant conversation.

They stop at a stock-car rally, and Harper expresses to a fellow spectator that she was afraid of coming, and this good old boy encourages and affirms her attendance.

Beyond that, it’s beautifully-shot, basking in the vistas of the Grand Canyon and the desert and the open fields and far horizons of Middle America. I think it must be hard to come out of this and not want to hop in your car and aim it for the farthest coast. I certainly did.

Most importantly, it’s sincere, but never saccharine. It’s not a lecture. It’s two people seeking to understand each other, and through that, themselves.

Rebel Ridge and Will & Harper are very different experiences, but the thing they hold in common is that they’re important.

They’re both perfect examples of art as empathy machine. You walk away from one with a better understanding of a deeply unjust practice weaponized against minority communities, and from the other with a deeper appreciation for the process of transition; not what it means in the abstract, but what it means to one particular woman.

And you are never not entertained.

Harper’s battle is deep, and long, and difficult. Watch the news and you hear a lot about the way the Republican party demonizes trans people to fan the flame of hatred in their desperate and disgusting bid to hold power.

But how often do we sit with trans people and ask them to tell us their stories?

Terry Richmond has his own battle. He needs to bail out his cousin, who will be in danger if he’s transferred to prison, where gang members are waiting to exact revenge. Each move Terry makes comes with the added burden of being a Black man in a white, rural town—and he knows this.

Now, granted, Terry tries his best to talk his way through the situation, before taking more extreme measures. But it’s a reminder of how much conflict can be avoided by sitting down, looking each other in the eye, and doing our best to understand each other. Johnson’s Chief Sandy Burnne says as much to Terry at one point—that things may have gone differently if they knew who he was and what he was doing. It’s a slim, borderline cowardly defense, but the point remains.

It all reminds me of something author Tom Spanbauer says: “When you meet someone for the first time, be kind, and look them in the eye. Everyone has a battle raging inside of them.”

It is so easy to be kind. It is so easy to take a moment and listen.

Hate take effort.

It is never, ever worth the effort.

Rebel Ridge is on Netflix now. Will & Harper is still in theaters for a bit, and while you can watch it at home soon, I’d encourage you to buy a ticket if it’s playing near you. Money talks, especially in Hollywood, and it’s a worthwhile investment.

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A few housekeeping measures:

• The release party for Dark Space, the new book from me and

  Alex Segura
  , will be on Oct. 12 at 3 p.m. at PT Knitwear in NYC. You can RSVP here.

• I’ll be at New York City Comic Con next month, sharing a table in Artist Alley with Alex. I’ll be doing some events and booth signings at the convention—more on that as we get closer to the event.

• I’m still open to editorial clients. If you’re working on a book that needs some help to make it submission-ready, I got you. You can find more information about that here.

• I’m thrilled to say the piece I wrote for

  Open Secrets
  about my publishing journey is now their most-read essay! You can check that out here if you haven’t seen it yet.