Jude Law stars in Justin Kurzel’s riveting thriller

If you think heavily armed white supremacists pose some new threat to America, you should check out orderA gripping, well-made historical thriller about a neo-Nazi gang who terrorized the Pacific Northwest nearly four decades ago, robbing banks and armored vehicles to fund their plans for a sweeping insurgency.

Australian director Justin Kurzel’s gripping true story from start to finish stars Jude Law as an FBI agent trying to take down the film’s eponymous faction, whom he has been tracking for years, from one robbery and killing to the next. one. Backed by a star-studded cast including Nicholas Hoult, Tye Sheridan and Jurnee Smollett, order It’s a tense reflection on violence in America that Hollywood rarely puts on the big screen. After launching in the main race in Venice, it’s expected to find supporters stateside, and Law’s lead will be a strong selling point.

One of Australia’s most promising filmmakers of the past few decades, Kurzel is no stranger to depicting real-life violence on screen. Debuted in 2011, snowtown murderstells the brutal and horrific story of a notorious Australian serial killer. and his feature film, which won the Grand Prize at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival, nitramdescribing the events leading up to the 1996 Tasmanian massacre. macbeth Filled with more gore than your average Shakespeare movie.

Therefore, he is the perfect choice to direct this violent and true American crime story, screenwriter Zach Bailin (king richard) adapted from the 1989 non-fiction book by Kevin Flynn and Gary Gerhardt, Silent Brotherhood. This impressively detailed script revisits the Order of the Phoenix’s crime spree in the early 1980s while staying as close to the events as possible and also delineating three compelling main characters.

On the legal side, Terry Husker (Law) is an obsessive but burned-out bureau member who has taken on the Ku Klux Klan and the Cosa Nostra. With courage and instinct, he arrived at an empty FBI office and heard rumors of a mysterious gang committing bank robberies and detonating bombs in Washington state. Husk soon joins forces with local cop Jamie Bowen (Sheridan), who has some connections to the gang, including a childhood friend they take down in the film’s opening scene.

Kurzel switches perspectives between a lawman learning how to work together and Bob Matthews (Holt), the charismatic frontman of a radical right-wing group who begins to build a powerful armed brotherhood in the northwest wilderness. in a sense order Two parallel stories are told, both about men so committed to a cause that they are willing to risk their lives for it, not to mention destroying their families.

Mirroring between Husker and Matthews occurs several times, most notably during a hunting scene where Law’s character finds himself in the scope of Holt’s rifle. But at that point he didn’t know who Matthews was or what the Order’s plans were, and one of the film’s strengths is that it carefully follows how such an investigation would be handled in the real world. Often taking one step forward and a few back, Matthews and company manage to escape Husker’s grasp for almost the entire movie.

The manhunt is filled with some explosive set pieces and is directed by Kurzel in his usual tense and efficient manner. One involves a simultaneous explosion and robbery, which Husk attempts to stop until the inexperienced Bowen finally blocks his way. Another features an armored vehicle being shot down on a road through picturesque mountains and woods, with a sudden shotgun blast breaking the silence and making you jump out of your seat.

There are few directors today who can capture scenes of violence as intense and realistic as Kurzel delivers here. But the gunfire is still there order Never gratuitous, but rather ingrained in a version of American history—a version fueled by the myth of white rebellion in a 1978 neo-Nazi novel turner diaryBecoming the main clue in the investigation, there is also the preaching of Richard Butler (Victor Slezak) and his Aryan Nations far-right Christian movement.

Husker soon learns that Matthews’ The Order is the latter’s more radical, violent offshoot, and the film’s third act will finally bring the two men face-to-face, foreshadowing the FBI’s take on Germany. Nearly a decade after the siege of Waco, Texas. Even then the direction things take is fairly predictable, but knowing they happened not so long ago in America—with on-screen titles providing actual dates and locations—adds a layer of creepiness and meaning to the action color.

In one of his better recent performances, Routh embodies Husk’s world-weary, addictive drive, and charismatic stoicism. Gone is the British golden boy with the perfect smile, replaced by a hard-drinking, mustachioed federal agent who may be past his prime—as evidenced by the massive scar on his chest following open-heart surgery Got this.

Sheridan plays a cop who learns to be bad so he can do good, sacrificing his family’s dignity to take down Matthews and his gang, an emotional highlight of the film. Smollett was also strong as an FBI official who supported Husker but criticized his failure to cooperate. Holt is convincing as the fearless, reckless leader of the Order of the Phoenix, who pulls off daring heists to fund the only cause he believes matters.

The echoes between the events in the film and what has happened in the United States since the 2016 presidential election cannot be ignored. While director of photography Adam Arkapaw and production designer Karen Murphy’s uncanny recreation of 1980s Washington is impressive, there are times when you start to wonder if the story even took place then Still now.

In a minimal sense, stand-up comedian and podcaster Marc Maron plays Jewish talk show host Alan Berg, who was murdered in 1983 by one of Matthews’ assistants. Berg rejects the far-right rhetoric surrounding him. order Let’s question where we stand 40 years later in a country more divided and still armed to the teeth.