Rebel Ridge took home the award for best TV movie at the 2025 Creative Arts Emmy Awards.
The Netflix film, written, produced and directed by Jeremy Saulnier, stars Aaron Pierre as a former Marine who goes up against a corrupt police force in a small Louisiana town. The project beat out fellow nominees The Gorge, Mountainhead, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy and Nonnas in the TV movie category.
Saulnier spoke to The Hollywood Reporter ahead of the action-thriller’s September 2024 release about bringing it to fruition following a pandemic, writers and actors strikes and the exit of the movie’s original lead ahead of filming, saying, “Because we faced headwinds, [Rebel Ridge] did end up being a version of the movie that far exceeded my expectations. I’m fully at peace with it, and I love it in its current form before it’s even released. This is a first for me to have this much joy upon sharing my latest work.”
Of the five-year journey to Rebel Ridge hitting the screen, he added, “I do believe that this feels like the only version of the film that was destined to happen, and I’m so grateful that the fates connected me and Aaron Pierre, and that the crew and the cast had the fortitude to stick with us. And the support from Netflix all the way through to the end was just singular. I can’t think of any other comp where [a film] actually went through all this and over-fucking-achieved.”
The 2025 Creative Arts Emmy Awards are held on Saturday, Sept. 6 and Sunday, Sept. 7 at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. Check out the full list of winners here.