For Jeremy Saulnier, all’s well that ends well.

After releasing Hold the Dark in late 2018, Saulnier wasted no time putting together his follow-up Netflix film, Rebel Ridge, in late 2019. But then the pandemic had its way with his April 2020 production schedule, delaying the film’s principal photography until the following spring. However, the once-a-century pandemic turned out to be just the the first of several obstacles, as former lead actor John Boyega abruptly exited the thriller just a month into 2021’s production due to “family reasons.”

Rebel Ridge’s standstill was a frustrating setback for a filmmaker who’d been gaining more and more momentum since relaunching his directorial career with the critically acclaimed Blue Ruin at Cannes in 2013. His third feature film, Green Room (2015), received equal praise, putting Saulnier alongside Jeff Nichols in terms of the next great American filmmakers. (Oddly enough, Nichols also endured lengthy misfortune en...