When FBI agent Terry Husk (Jude Law) moves to Idaho it is with the intention of slowing down. A veteran of cases involving organised crime and the Ku Klux Klan has made him estranged from his wife and daughters and this step is planned to ease those tensions. But then he finds himself investigating a splinter group of the Aryan Nation led by Bob Mathews (Nicholas Hoult) and his plans to slow down go up in smoke. 

The Order is based on a true story and covers events that took place in Northwestern America between 1983 and 1984. Writer Zach Baylin has adapted the 1989 non-fiction book The Silent Brotherhood by Kevin Flynn and Gary Gerhardt. The director chosen to bring this story to the screen is Justin Kurzel who at this point must be considered a modern master of bringing a gritty true story to the big screen. Kurzel’s previous films based on a true story are the excellent Snowtown, True History Of The Kelly Gang and Nitram. The Order would be considered far more mainstream and palatable in comparison to those features but would still be considered gritty. One interesting fact I want to point out is that the only blip on Kurzel’s CV is the first film I ever reviewed for this site: Assassins Creed. Which is so far his only foray into the mainstream. 

The Order is the sort of film that delivers an intensely fascinating experience due to the well sketched characters, passionate lead performances and searing realism. 

Jude Law, who also acts as a producer here is impossible to take your eyes off. His veteran FBI agent has seen it all and despite his heart condition and the absence of his family he is unable to slow down. There are two exceptional interactions that sum up his character during the film. One with a suspect who points out that whilst he investigates cults, his cult is the Federal Government. The other is when he persuades a person to become an informant because the criminal only cares about their cause and everything and everyone will fall by the wayside of that cause. He could be describing himself. Kurzel and Law make this character that could have been a cliche something vital and important. Watching him washing his hands in pure water or the dirt of a crime scene is endlessly satisfying. 

Trying to give a performance alongside Law’s could have been tricky but Nicholas Hoult keeps up. A zealot for his cause, a persuasive speaker and a man of contradictions. Hoult almost makes his evil domestic terrorist human.

There are also some interesting supporting roles delivered by Tye Sheridan and Jurnee Smollett as law enforcement agents working with Husk. One a rookie he takes under his wing, the other someone who knows him well enough to keep a professional distance. 

The film features shots of beautiful Idaho scenery juxtaposed with clinical cityscapes and delivers tense stakeouts and chases. 

The Order is an accomplished crime story and Jude Law is brilliant.