For all the horrific sound bites and general ideology filled around hate, the neo Nazi white nationalist movement continues to persist especially in the United States. Very often I’m perplexed how this movement finds ways to rise in power and become a force in various parts of the country. The Order goes about how one such faction of the movement did it, and wraps it in a tight, exciting cat and mouse thriller that’ll have you horrified when the bullets are flying…and even moreso when they aren’t.
It’s 1983 in Idaho. Terry Husk (Jude Law) is looking to age gracefully into retirement, taking this quiet FBI gig in the mountains. Bad timing, because ugly things are brewing. Bob Mathews (Nicholas Hoult) is roused after reading The Turner Diaries, hoping to use this book to finally take action on his beliefs. Husk starts seeing patterns in seemingly random robberies and bombings happening across the Pacific Northwest, and with the help of local police officer Jamie Bowen (Tye Sheridan), starts lasering in on the Aryan brotherhood in the area, at this point “lead” by Richard Butler (Victor Slezak).
In the world of endless green screen movie making, director Justin Kurzel uses the period setting to convince the studio to shoot outside and in the streets (Canada though, not Idaho). That choice really makes you feel exactly why The Order took hold. It’s a place with tiny towns, not a lot of money, and giant mountain ranges with lakes here and there, easy to be forgotten, or in this case, hide. You end up feeling intimidated, awed, and isolated, exactly the tinder box that flames you towards white supremacist organizations. Watching Husk and Bowen enter one of the Aryan communities is shot almost majestically: a waterless lake surrounded by mountains on all sides. That gets juxtaposed wonderfully with some of the terror waged in these tiny motels or movie theaters, making you feel when that bomb explodes or when the gunfire starts and there’s nowhere to hide. Kurzel uses all the area has to offer: small towns, giant road heists, chases through small towns, big majestic mountain hunting of elk, etc, to transport you to 1983 Idaho and get inside the characters heads.
There’s also another magic trick Kurzel puts over on the audience: humanity. So often at this point, white nationalists are clear cut bad guys, wholly intent on murder and hate, their sole purpose in life. In The Order, Nicholas Hoult is the real, chilling, face of what a neo Nazi looks like. He’s bad, but not evil; he’s very human: has a family, a bit of a womanizer, cares about his friends in the brotherhood, and is strategic and calculating in how he goes about gathering followers and executing his heists. And just happens to believe all Jews and non whites are innately bad for society which he sees over and over again without burning crosses about it. Frankly, it’s almost more horrifying with how relatable he can sound in the movie. On the law enforcement side, we also have flawed human beings: Jude Law and Tye Sheridan mean well, but they fail early and often to catch Bob even though they figure out his pattern, botching their chances over and over again. They also lie to themselves about what they’re doing, and who they’re doing it for. As such, we get what probably was a realistic cat and mouse pursuit between the two sides, where a person is trying to bring another person to justice, not an all encompassing good vs. evil battle for the soul of America. You’re not gonna come out of The Order supporting the Aryan brotherhood, but you will understand them better, seeing what happens when you let your darker hateful instincts take control of you.
It honestly makes me shudder when I think about it. I won’t say you’ll have a rollicking great time watching The Order, but you will be fascinated and immersed in a very specific place, with real people that probably lived there. Big shout out to the Brinks drivers, all all the crazy nonsense you must deal with on those endless, gigantic mountain roads.