R | 1h 54m | Thriller, Crime, Drama | Dec. 6
Based on the novel “The Silent Brotherhood” by Kevin Flynn and Gary Gerhardt, “The Order” is a taut, gritty, and thoroughly engrossing crime thriller detailing a real-life investigation into domestic terror involving white supremacists in the Pacific Northwest.
Set in 1983, it charts the activities of a neo-Nazi group whose ultimate goal is revolution and insurrection. But there’s dissent within the ranks. “In ten years, we’ll have members in the Congress, in the Senate. That’s how you make change,” proclaims white-power elder Richard Butler (Victor Slezak). The up-and-coming Young Turk-supremacists are tired of his talk. They want to see action.
From 1937’s “Black Legion” to 2018’s “BlackKkKlansman,” many films have explored the topic of hate groups in the United States. Releasing it roughly two months ahead of 2025’s inauguration day, some are seeing chilling parallels in “The Order” with America’s current political climate. More on this later.
FBI
“The Order” is a loose procedural that follows grizzled, thick-mustachioed, world-weary, gum-chewing, chain-smoking FBI agent Terry Husk (Jude Law), who’s taken on the Sicilian Mafia and the Ku Klux Klan earlier in his career. He’s also got a perennially manifesting nosebleed, which hints that retirement from all the stress is something he should seriously consider.
Arriving at his rural, sleepy new post, Husk notices swastikas and pamphlets around town that the local sheriff is suspiciously not particularly concerned about. Suspecting the existence of a domestic terrorist group, Husk teams up with local police officer Jamie Bowen (Tye Sheridan) to investigate a series of bank, armored car, and adult bookstore heists with possible links to a local white supremacist group.
Jamie’s a good cop who recognizes the danger that the presence of the Aryan Nation poses. He knows some of them. It’s a small town after all—they’re his neighbors and high school classmates. He’s been quietly gathering evidence, just waiting for someone like Husk to show up. He’s willing to take the risk and eventually the investigation becomes a law-enforcement trio when a former FBI colleague of Husk’s, Joanne Carney (Jurnee Smollett), also comes aboard.
‘The Order’
The group, called The Order, is led by one Bob Matthews (Nicholas Hoult, currently also starring in Clint Eastwood’s “Juror #2“) and the above-mentioned elder, Richard Butler. Bob’s a radical who defies his local, KKK member-founded Church of Jesus Christ by calling out the tendency to simply talk the talk. Bob would rather do “God’s work” and bomb the lowlife bums infesting the local porn theater.
The zealous Mr. Matthews is a classic cult leader, trying to leave an offspring legacy via various women. While married to the barren Debbie (Alison Oliver), he also has a mistress, Zillah (Odessa Young), who’s given him a daughter (which she apologizes for). He’s a bit of a cipher—where’d all his hatred come from? Probably some self-hatred there, but the screenplay doesn’t leave him a one-dimensional villain; he’s a little mysterious and, scarily, a little bit ordinary.
“The Order” switches back and forth between the FBI investigation, which unfolds over several years, and the rising white supremacist crime wave that funds their infrastructure and future plans. There’s also momentum building via cross-cutting between Husk and Matthews’s cat-and-mouse game.
They’ve got momentous plans, based on the white-supremacy bible “The Turner Diaries,” William Luther Pierce’s 1978 book about a white supremacy revolution that begets the systematic extermination of Jews, liberals, and black and brown people. It’s the rancid, moral-rabies-inducing source that incited the assassination of Denver-based Jewish radio personality Alan Berg (played here by Marc Maron), and which is also widely believed to have fueled the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.
Upshot
“The Order” is disturbing and grim with the texture of 1970s cop thrillers, with the pace moving at medium-burn speed, but with crackling suspense throughout and no excess fat. The filmmakers grab your attention within the first 10 minutes and don’t let go.
The film’s main message is delivered via Husk, who notes that both mobsters and white supremacists are always looking for someone to blame. The white-power cultists depicted here label the federal government a “cult,” while robbing banks to eventually be able to overthrow it.
Husk depicts their chronic condition as consisting of a thin skin, nonstop complaining about perceived unfairness toward themselves, and a narcissistic inability to look inside for answers to their problems. They lack the courage to take ownership for their lot in life because—according to Husk—they’re “too inept to get by in the world” without creating their own rules.
Many folks are currently unsettled by the alleged growth of white supremacy groups in the aftermath of the Jan. 6, 2021, “insurrection.” The mainstream media certainly gives the impression that that’s the case. It’s more likely that the majority of white supremacist groups reside within America’s prison system, where each race has its own gang for purposes of safety and protection.
I highly recommend watching the 2017 documentary “The Work,” about a men’s group that’s teaching incarcerated gang members—the Crips, the Bloods, the Aryan Nation, the Latin Kings, the Native American gangs, even notorious MS-13—to get together in one room with no guards present, and admit they’re all extremely tired of the bloodshed by now, and hug it out like brothers. This is the real order that’s being currently restored to America. Very hope-inspiring!
‘The Order’
Director: Justin Kurzel
Starring: Jude Law, Nicholas Hoult, Jurnee Smollett
MPAA Rating: R
Running Time: 1 hour, 54 minutes
Release Date: Dec. 6, 2024
Rating: 4 stars out of 5 for good storytelling, 1.5 stars for woke narrative
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