The Shadow Strays director, Timo Tjahjanto, glows about his love of Rebel Ridge

Jeremy Saulnier’s Rebel Ridge dominated Netflix’s Top 10 list for the second week this week and it has gained acclaim with a certified fresh Rotten Tomatoes rating of 96% with an audience score of 69%. Our own Chris Bumbray says in his review, “But what makes Rebel Ridge such a must-watch movie are the action sequences, which are shot in a lean, mean, and realistic way. You see, in the film, Terry is a former close combat instructor, and those are the tactics he uses to take on his opponents, with Pierre thrillingly adept in the well-staged martial arts sequences. This kind of action role makes a guy like him a star, and one has to imagine that the suits at Marvel and DC will be keeping an eye on him.” The fights scenes are a standout for the film and one person who has ample experience with hardcore fighting is director Timo Tjahjanto.

Tjahjanto has worked with The Raid‘s Iko Uwais on a couple of features, including Headshot and The Night Comes For Us, also starring The Raid‘s Joe Taslim. Tjahjanto also has a new bloody affair coming out from Netflix, titled The Shadow Strays and while promoting that film, Tjahjanto proclaimed his love for Rebel Ridge while talking to our EIC. “I love Rebel Ridge. Jeremy [Saulnier] is my personal hero. It’s funny, whenever Jeremy is releasing a film, I’m releasing a film as well. I remember when he released Hold the Dark, I was releasing The Night Comes for Us. And I always feel, obviously, he’s a much better filmmaker than me and much more mature filmmaker than me.”

He continues with the statement, “Rebel Ridge is an exercise of knowing that violence is not the answer. While, me…like I’m still very much living in this weird, violent, confrontational [world].”

Tjahjanto also is in production for Nobody 2 and recently praised his leading man, Bob Odenkirk, on his drive. Tjahjanto stated, “I underestimated just how crazy Bob Odenkirk is! Honestly, Bob is a 61-year-old man and his dedication and the training that he undergoes…man….like, I’m embarrassed. I’m significantly younger than him and I get tired by the time we are shooting.”