The Order ★★★½
AUSTRALIAN director Justin Kurzel delivers another exciting and thought-provoking crime thriller in 2024’s The Order.
The director of Snowtown and Nitram is no stranger to bringing powerful depictions of violence and divisive characters to the screen.
His latest, which unfortunately didn’t get a cinema release in Australia, is based on a 1989 non-fiction book titled ‘The Silent Brotherhood: The Chilling Inside Story of America’s Violent, Anti-Government Militia Movement’.
Before you ask, if Kurzel is making a statement on the current state of American politics and society, it plays third fiddle to giving us a high-octane thriller and character study.
The film centres on the investigation into a white supremacist group that was active across several States in the 1980s, committing several murders, robbing banks, bombing synagogues and stockpiling weapons in readiness for a revolution based on the call to arms in the infamous Turner Diaries.
Nicholas Hoult, who seems to be everywhere these days, gives a strong performance as the charismatic leader of the group while Jude Law continues his recent string of interesting character studies as the veteran FBI agent leading the hunt.
The main setting is rural Idaho where the group led by Hoult’s character, Bob Mathews, is part of the Aryan Nations’ organisation but has become frustrated at its lack of revolutionary action and has extraordinary ambitions of overthrowing the US Government and igniting a race war.
Terry Husk (Law) is a highly effective and driven FBI agent who arrives in town to investigate, kicking the local police into action while dealing with the collapse of his marriage and young family.
Kurzel expertly merges character development, police procedural and action sequences to rachet the tension to a final, bloody climax.
There’s a good cameo from comedian/podcaster Marc Maron as Jewish talkback radio host Alan Berg who paid a price for being a public voice against racism.
The Order is a solid addition to the crime thriller sub-genre based on real people and events.
Watched on Apple TV.