Title – The Order (2024)

Director – Justin Kurzel (Nitram) 

Cast – Jude Law, Nicholas Hoult, Tye Sheridan, Marc Maron, Jurnee Smollett

Plot – Based on true events that occurred in the American Pacific Northwest in the early 1980’s with FBI agent Terry Husk (Law) charged with investigating a radical group of white supremacists lead by the charismatic Bob Matthews (Hoult) who have begun committing a series of escalating crimes with ambitions to change the American way of life for good.  

“We don’t advocate any of our members breaking any laws”

Review by Eddie on 31/03/2025

A 2024 release that you’d be forgiven for not even knowing existed thanks to a barely there marketing campaign or cinematic release towards the latter stages of last year that took place before Australian director Justin Kurzel’s latest feature went to PVOD services, The Order might be perfectly middle of the road cinema at days end but it’s one that deserves more eyes on it than it initially did.

Based on true events that occurred in the American Pacific Northwest in the early 1980’s when the FBI were drawn to a small sleepy part of the state that was experiencing an increase in crime and suspect activity that appeared to be related to a dangerous subsect of local White Supremacy groups, The Order is loaded with politically infused substances and stereotypical thriller elements that ensures its at the very least an engaging if far from ground-breaking feature length experience.

Clocking in at just under two hours in length, Kurzel doesn’t allow himself or us much time to get acquainted with who is who in the zoo here or provide us with much background for our characters but with a cast that’s lead by three talented leads in the forms of Jude Law, Nicholas Hoult and Taylor Sheridan, The Order’s shortcomings both narratively and in the character building department can mostly be ignored by just going along for the ride as Law’s dogged FBI agent Terry Husk tries to take down Hoult’s dangerous Bob Matthews with the help of Sheridan’s do-gooder local police officer Jamie Bowen.

Delivering typically sound performances Law and Sheridan work well as a mismatched duo, even if both Hoult and Bowen are more like law enforcement officer’s A and B from the feature film playbook with Hoult the standout here, a bonus addition to his 2024 that saw him kick some serious career goals by fronting Clint Eastwood’s Juror #2 and breakout horror Nosferatu.

Continuing on with a curious and unpredictable career that broke out in a big way with renowned Australian crime drama Snowtown in 2011 and has had some highs along the way with the visually stunning Macbeth and the haunting Nitram but some worrying lows with Assassin’s Creed and True History of the Kelly Gang, Kurzel never appears too interested in giving The Order any special creative spark from behind the camera but he does a great job at capturing the lands of this beautiful but dangerous part of America while his team do a great job at making sure his film feels very much cut from the same cloth of the era its set in.

Rarely pausing for breath and giving viewers a good amount of character to character moments alongside shootouts and foot chases, The Order might not be memorable but its a perfectly in-tuned time filler sure to leave viewers satisfied if they head into it with the right expectations and mindset.

Final Say –

A mid-tier affair from the could do a lot better Kurzel, The Order is helped by its talented cast and grounding in real life events, providing us with a solid if entirely unspectacular investigational procedural that is sure to find a solid audience now it’s on streaming services.

3 deer hunts out of 5