Glasgow Film Festival 2024: JERICHO RIDGE

Jericho Ridge is something of an anomaly in that it’s an American set siege drama – following in the vein of John Carpenter‘s Assault on Precinct 13, but more on that later – but a British production, using established British TV actors such as Nikka Amuka-Bird (Doctor Who, Luther), and Michael Socha (This Is England, Being Human), with Kosovo standing in for Washington in the American Northwest. This is no bad thing, as every actor here shows their capable acting chops, and the grey, dusky setting provides ample opportunities for tension. Ultimately though, Jericho Ridge works well as a pastiche of Carpenter‘s 70s thriller but does little to distinguish itself on its own merits, beyond Amuka-Bird‘s excellent performance.

Siege

Deputy Sheriff Tabby Temple (Amuka-Bird) is having a bad time of it. Placed on desk duty after injuring her leg, and dealing with a wayward son (Zach Morris), she is understandably gruff and distant with her work colleagues. Things take a turn for the worst when she is left alone to man the office while the others attend what should be a routine arrest and find herself in the middle of an all-out assault. Unsure why this is happening, and hobbled by a cast on her foot, Temple has to survive the siege and figure out what is going on.

Will Gilbey‘s genre flick is his first after a series of shorts; he serves as both writer and director here. The script is tight and snappy, with a lot of good back-and-forths ensuring these relationships feel real. The first act is roughly set up, moving pieces into place and establishing the relationships that will come into play later. There is also always the ominous feeling of trouble lurking around the corner. The tension steadily mounts until a brutal second-act sequence which kicks off the carnage.

The entirety of Jericho Ridge – it is no spoiler to say – takes place in the Sheriff’s office, and this adherence to a single location provides both opportunities and setbacks. Gilbey uses the location to its full extent in the same way his predecessor Carpenter did with Assault on Precinct 13, which is surely an inspiration here. The staging – coupled with Temple’s injury ensuring she can’t move very far (a clever addition) – is filmed with tight, hand-held camera work, often giving a feel of a physically punishing set piece. There are plenty of little moments in the script played out to perfection, such as bullets too big for a gun or a knife in the wrong place at the right time, which keep the action zipping along at an even pace.

Assault on Jericho Ridge

Perhaps the issue with Jericho Ridge is how predictable it all feels if you’ve seen Assault on Precinct 13. Although this is a much leaner effort and careens along at a tight 80 minutes or so, the structure is well-worn and cliche by now. Of course Temple has a substance abuse problem, her wayward son deals drugs and is involved with a local kingpin, of course, there are a series of setbacks that ensure backup is always just too far away to be able to help. Everything in the setup plays out more or less as you think it will. Perhaps that’s no bad thing though; your mileage may vary, especially if you’ve come for a solid B-movie action thriller anchored by a tough-as-nails heroine who is done with this shit.

Speaking of Amuka-Bird, she feels like a real coup for the production. Probably overqualified for the role, Amuka-Bird nonetheless brings a real sense of urgency and bone-deep tiredness to Temple, who just wants to fix the things she’s messed up in her life before someone else has the chance to end it for her. Jericho Ridge feels like a gauntlet for Temple, who has to drag herself across rooms and fight tooth and nail just to survive. She is weathered and beaten by an onslaught, and Amuka-Bird conveys every inch of that torture. There is a late 2nd act moment between Temple and her son, in which Amuka-Bird is given an opportunity to show the emotionally broken, vulnerable side of Temple as opposed to the physical, and here too she knocks it out of the park. Other actors, such as Socha, playing a wife-beating redneck with three teeth and a bad haircut, get very little to do other than provide fodder for Temple’s ire. Morris gets a few moments as Temple’s son, caught up in the violence and desperate to make amends with his mother before anything happens, but this is his first feature movie and he struggles a little with the accent and adapting to Amuka-Bird‘s level.

Conclusion

Jericho Ridge is indeed a B-movie take on Assault on Precinct 13, coupled with plenty of Carpenter style flourishes which show Gilbey did his homework. It is tight scripted and paced, and well acted by a series of solid British stars. If you’re looking for a decent genre thriller, you could do much worse.

Jericho Ridge screened as part of the Glasgow Film Festival