The Order (2024) Review: Jude Law and Nicholas Hoult Square Off in Justin Kurzel’s Gripping Crime Thriller
Australian director Justin Kurzel ventures into the Michael Mann-style crime movie territory in The Order, adapted from Kevin Flynn and Gary Gerhardt’s 1989 non-fiction book The Silent Brotherhood. This true-story crime thriller takes place in the early ’80s when a group of criminals led by Bob Mathews (Nicholas Hoult) is responsible for a series of armed robberies and counterfeiting rings in the Pacific Northwest.
These robbers also turn out to be a neo-Nazi group championing white supremacy under his own movement called The Order. Bob used to be an ardent follower of the Aryan Nations led by Richard Butler (Victor Slezak) but Bob thinks he’s all talks and no action. To show that he means business, Bob and his devoted followers commit criminal activities and steal money from banks and armoured trucks, hoping he raises enough cash flow to form an army of his own for a major domestic terrorist attack.
Hoult brings a subtly intimidating vibe to his deceptively charismatic Bob Mathews but so full of rage and hatred deep within. He doesn’t mind getting his hands dirty and wouldn’t bat an eye to kill anyone in cold blood whenever necessary. His terrifying portrayal of a ticking bomb of a dangerous man is undoubtedly one of his best roles in his career along with the actor’s recent performance in Juror #2. Come next July, I’m convinced that he’ll make a good impression playing the formidable Lex Luthor in James Gunn’s reboot Superman.
On the other side of the story, there’s a lone FBI agent Terry Husk (Jude Law, who also co-produced the movie and performed among his best roles to date in the actor’s decades-long career) arriving in the field office in the Idaho town of Coeur d’Alene. Law sports a moustache while bringing a world-weary persona to his role and like Hoult’s Bob, he’s so deeply committed to his job that once he’s on the case investigating the robberies and other related criminal activities, he doesn’t stop until he gets it done.
Later, he teams up with a local cop Jamie Bowen (Tye Sheridan) and their joint investigation leads to a few riveting moments, one of which revolves around the volatile Terry trying to stop a getaway van with a shotgun. There’s a sense of visceral flair in Kurzel’s muscular, matter-of-fact direction in the action sequences elevated by Jed Kurzel’s propulsive score each time the stakes heat up.
Kudos also go to Kurzel for staging deliberately suspenseful moments such as the one when Terry and Bob cross paths at the lake, making you wonder whether something bad is going to happen. Hoult and Law are the main reasons that elevate The Order and so does Kurzel’s genre know-how approach in playing it straight, even though the movie’s nearly two-hour length tends to either drag or wander around in some of the plodding moments (the scenes revolving around Mathews’ personal and family life come to mind).
Zach Baylin, who previously co-wrote the atrocious Crow reboot nobody asked for, does an admirable job adapting The Silent Brotherhood. The Order equally benefits from the stellar supporting cast including Tye Sheridan and Jurnee Smollett, where the latter plays a no-nonsense FBI agent Joanne Carney. Then, there’s Adam Arkapaw, who frequently worked with Kurzel’s movies in the first three movies (Snowtown, Macbeth and Assassin’s Creed), brings a distinctly atmospheric quality into his cinematography capturing the desolate-like vibe of the Pacific Northwest region in both daylight and nighttime shots.
The climactic third act somehow deflates in what could have been a boiling point revolving around the cat-and-mouse thrills between the relentless Terry Husk and Bob Mathews. Still, some of the shortcomings aside, The Order remains a gripping true-story crime thriller.
