Venice 2024: ‘The Order’ is a Riveting Action Thriller About America

by Alex Billington
August 31, 2024

“It felt like a piece of work that needed to be made now,” Jude Law explained during the press conference for this film. “It’s interesting looking back, but it’s always interesting finding a piece from the past that has some relationship to the present day.” Indeed it is. Especially a film like this. The Order is the latest action thriller film made by acclaimed Australian filmmaker Justin Kurzel, director of The Snowtown Murders, Macbeth, Assassin’s Creed, True History of the Kelly Gang, and Nitram previously. After making tons of a bunch of films about criminals in Australia, he’s telling a story about a notorious American criminal – a man named Bob Mathews. The Order follows one grizzled, determined FBI agent, played by Jude Law, who is on the hunt for Bob after he realizes what’s really going while investigating a series of bank robberies in the Pacific Northwest. It’s a completely true story and most of the character are based on real people. This two-hour-long action thriller is a riveting, intense story about neo-Nazis in America – and is as relevant as ever.

The Order is directed and produced by filmmaker Justin Kurzel as his seventh feature film. The screenplay is written by Zach Baylin and Gary Gerhardt, adapted from the book titled “The Silent Brotherhood” written by Kevin Flynn. While all the descriptions have been keeping the specific details a secret, The Order is about a radical-right hate group that was (or still is?) known as “The Order”. They really did exist, and that name comes from a right-wing terrorist book about a white power revolution (fantasy) in the US. The film’s story follows an FBI agent and other law enforcement as they attempt to find and apprehend the group’s leader, a charismatic American man named Bob. Nicholas Hoult stars as Bob, and Jude Law co-stars as his fed nemesis, Terry Husk. Tye Sheridan also appears as a local deputy who joins up with Husk, and Jurnee Smollett also co-stars as another FBI agent who joins the team part of the way into the investigation. Most of the film takes place in the beautiful mountains of Washington and Idaho, which is where Mathews was living after breaking off from another radical religious group known as CSA that was also based in the area.

Kurzel is an exceptionally talented action filmmaker, he has already proven this with so many of his other films before. He shoots his films with a dynamic yet somewhat gritty style that amplifies the intensity of the shoot outs & showdowns between the various criminals (and cops). The Order reminds me of another action thriller western, Hell or High Water, with a similar kind of vibe as various criminals make their way around the rural landscapes of America trying not to get shot. There’s no need to try anything new or flip anything around, so Kurzel sticks to his guns and tells a straightforward story, with a few cliche aspects in the script. The narrative is rather conventional but nonetheless still absorbing, spending time with both Bob and Terry, showing how the group of neo-Nazis in The Order is building up their “war chest” while Terry is on the hunt to find them and stop them. The deeper focus is ultimately on the chilling truth about America – there really are neo-Nazis and white power extremists who do actually believe the country needs to be cleansed. It’s not some fairy tale, these people exist and are out there and we must stop them because they just won’t give up.

While this isn’t always the case (Alex Garland’s Civil War is the exact opposite), it’s good that an Australian filmmaker made this film about white supremacists in America. Kurzel is not afraid to boldly show and state using cinema what most Americans are really afraid to believe: these domestic terrorists are extraordinarily bad and you cannot stop them by negotiating with them. Most of his other films are about violent Australian criminals, and it’s refreshing to see him be so honest about American criminals. They are antisemitic, racist, hateful bastards but they’re usually given a pass because they’re just Americans living their simple lives like every other American. There’s a compelling motif that the film ends on that is meant to be a vivid reminder for Americans (and everyone else) about how to deal with them. Kurzel delivers yet another stand out action thriller with The Order that really is frighteningly relevant to today’s America. It’s not about the shootouts being entertaining to watch, it’s about why the hell they have to end up in all these shootouts to begin with.

Alex’s Venice 2024 Rating: 8 out of 10
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