‘The Order’ is All Too Relevant

Jude Law, Jurnee Smollett, and Tye Sheridan in The Order | Credit: Amazon MGM Studios

When an FBI agent with a troubled past begins to see a connection between various crimes committed in the Pacific Northwest, he embarks on a dangerous mission with devastating consequences.

I was initially intrigued by this film because Jude Law stars as Terry Husk, the FBI agent at the center of this case. I’ve seen Jude Law in many different roles throughout the years, but I don’t think I have ever seen him play a role like this. I was curious to see if the heartthrob from films like The Holiday could pull off such a gritty and tortured role. And he does!

Husk is gruff and standoffish. He doesn’t seem to connect well with others, and his relationship with his wife and children has deteriorated, which almost comes as a surprise to him. Jude Law goes through all of these phases well. We feel the relief that Terry feels when he is alone in nature and the anxiety that grips him throughout the rest of the movie. He’s a dogged agent, which makes him a little too reckless at times, leading to some intense moments.

This is all contrasted by Nicholas Hoult’s Bob Matthews, the charismatic cult leader who is behind these crimes. Matthews has a lot of charisma and can captivate a room. He’s good at reading people and seems to understand how to say just the right thing at the right time to get people to follow him. Matthews is also an interesting combination of planful and reckless, sometimes allowing his ego to get the better of him.

The cat-and-mouse nature of the relationship between Husk and Matthews is highly entertaining, with a few really tense set pieces as these two try to stay one step ahead of the other. The deliberate pacing of this film ensures that there’s plenty of time to catch our breath after the truly explosive moments. The film’s structure also helps us get a feel for each of these men and how they have impacted this town.

Nicholas Hoult in The Order | Credit: Amazon MGM Studios

What stands out the most in The Order is just how relevant it is to our world today. As hate groups, neo-nazis, and antisemitism is on the rise, this film felt all too timely. While I was watching this film, about an extremist group that routinely bombed places in the PNW, I received a news alert on my phone that a fertility center in California was bombed. While I was watching this movie, people were dealing with the aftereffects of similar actions taken by people in real life. Though we’re decades removed from the events of this film, these tactics are still at work today.

This film also shows how an ideology can infiltrate and take hold in a community. We also see the devastation that ideas turned into action can leave in its wake. We see people killed—some in truly gruesome fashion—and the bombing of buildings. The Order effectively showcases the fear that this group is causing and the havoc it is wreaking as it works toward its horrifying goal.

This film follows the cop genre formula well, but because of the relevance of the subject matter, it really hits home. Matthews and his group aren’t just criminals, they are working toward a deliberate and horrifying goal.

The most chilling line of the movie, to me, however, is uttered by Rev. Richard Butler (Victor Slezak). In talking with Bob Matthews about his plans, Butler encourages him to slow down. He advocates for letting the process work itself out. He’s certain that they will achieve their goals when they have men with their ideology in places of power, like in Congress. It’s so disheartening to think that he was right and we are living in the reality that he was only dreaming of. That small scene really effectively holds a mirror up to where we are as a nation today. And what it shows is heartbreaking.

Jude Law in The Order | Credit: Amazon MGM Studios

The Order is an effective entry in the police genre. It’s filled with exciting and tense set pieces that will get your heart racing. There are also moments that showcase the beauty of the Pacific Northwest and how refreshing it is to be in the quiet of nature. All of this is interspersed with a dangerous and deadly ideology that is relevant to our world today.

This film is set in the mid-80s, but 40 years later, we’re still dealing with the same evil thoughts and actions that don’t seem to go away. While the ending of the film is appropriately satisfying, it’s chilling to see that these thoughts are alive and well.