In 1983, a series of increasingly violent bank robberies, counterfeiting operations and armored car heists frightened communities throughout the Pacific Northwest. As baffled law enforcement agents scrambled for answers, a lone FBI agent (Law), stationed in the sleepy, picturesque town of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, came to believe the crimes were not the work of traditional, financially motivated criminals but a group of dangerous domestic terrorists, inspired by a radical, charismatic leader (Hoult), plotting a devastating war against the federal government of the United States.

Justin Kurzel’s latest movie is a crime thriller about a group of white supremacists who wreaked havoc across the American North West in the early 1980s, robbing banks and carrying out assassinations and bombings. It stars Jude Law as Terry Husk, the FBI agent on their trail, opposite Nicholas Hoult as Bob Mathews, the charismatic leader of the terrorist group known as ‘The Order’, with support coming from Tye Sheridan and Jurnee Smollett as fellow law enforcement officers.

‘The Order’ begins by introducing us to the organisation/cult known as the Order, as they commit a bank robbery in Washington state, led by Bob Mathews. It becomes clear that he is attempting to establish his own white supremacist organisation as an offshoot of the Aryan Nation, a well known racist and antisemitic organisation. He had been influenced by its founder Richard Butler, as well as a 1978 novel called ‘The Turner Diaries’ that is infamous for its promotion of white separatist ideals. Terry Husk had previously investigated organisations such as the Ku Klux Klan and the Mafia, and takes on a new investigation into the activities being carried out by white supremacists in the North West, which brings him into contact with Butler, and subsequently Mathews and his gone via some information from a younger local cop (Tye Sheridan). As well as the bank robberies, Husk suspects the group are also responsible for synagogue bombings, as well as threats that have been delivered to outspoken Jewish radio host Alec Berg (Marc Maron).

Kurzel is skilled at turning this story (based on a 1989 non-fiction book called ‘The Silent Brotherhood’) into a moody and atmospheric thriller that holds your attention, and I was gripped at following the story unfold as the paths of Husk and Mathews came closer to converging. The performances are very good, from Jude Law especially, who is really embracing different types of roles as he gets older, and I felt that ‘The Order’ is a strongly crafted movie that presents a chilling look at the motivations and consequences of American domestic terrorism.

Rating: 4/5

Directed By: Justin Kurzel

Starring: Jude Law, Nicholas Hoult, Jurnee Smollett, Tye Sheridan, Alison Oliver, Marc Maron and Odessa Young

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt26625693/