THE ORDER

TIFF 24 REVIEW BY: KURT MORRISON

DATE: SEPTEMBER 16, 2024

RATING: 4.5 out of 5

Of all the films I got to experience at this year's TIFF, I think The Order stands out as my favourite surprise. This stylishly made crime thriller harkens back to an era of movie making that feels like a distant dream. One that is vicious and unrelenting in the story it is telling, yet smartly paced and never meandering, allowing it to flow perfectly act by act until its thrilling climax. The Order could have been three hours in length and I would have been just as glued as I was during its actual two hour running time, because The Order is that damn good of a movie.

The film revolves around burnt out and grizzled veteran FBI agent Terry Husk, who has been assigned to the Pacific Northwest to investigate a string of violent bank robberies and bombings, all of which seem to have a connection to a Neo-Nazi group that has been operating for years right under the nose of the police. Right from the get-go, it is clear that Husk’s presence there stirs up some unwanted attention, so when he begins asking questions and not getting any answers, he enlists the help of a young deputy who has grown up in the small town.

I have been a fan of Jude Law for a long, long time - even some of his lesser known films like 2004’s Alfie and 2010’s Repo Men are films I love, simply because I always find him entertaining and electric on screen. But The Order presents Law in a different manner. It gives us Jude at his meanest and rawest, really providing a role that felt incredibly refreshing to see. Gone is that suave, sexy demeanor. This is a man with skeletons in his closet, while he lights a cigarette while he pours a glass of Glenfiddich. Even at 51 years old, and 30 years in the business, Law is still pushing himself to try new things and I love it.

But if anyone pushes the envelope in The Order, it is Nicholas Hoult, who delivers a career best performance as Bob Matthews, the leader of the Aerian race brotherhood who is the mastermind behind the string of robberies, bombings and assassinations. It is a chilling performance unlike anything I have seen Hoult ever do and I think this is finally going to be the performance that garners Hoult some awards attention because it is terrifying how sinister he is in this film. The scariest part is Hoult sheds his cute, blue eyed exterior for a coldness that we the audience have never seen before - which makes me wonder how good he is going to be as Lex Luthor in next summer’s Superman. If he is able to channel even a 10th of that evil onto the screen, it’ll be a comic book villain role that will leave people talking for ages afterwards.

Director Justin Kurzel is back to form with this, and although I have not seen either of his most recent films, Nitram or The True History of the Kelly Gang, 2016’s Assassin’s Creed left a real sour taste in my mouth for the last 8 years so I was unsure about his directing on this one. Using the captivating coldness and exteriors of Calgary and the Rocky Mountains, something of which he expressed love and adoration for during the film’s Q&A here in Toronto, Kurzel maintains an ability to shoot violence while still establishing a frightening sense of authenticity, especially during two separate bank robbery scenes, where the openness of the land becomes a startling characteristic to how dangerous these robberies were becoming.

Kurzel nails everything from start to finish not just in terms of his action but the cat and mouse between Husk and Matthews, which I think is the strong aspect of the entire film. It creates a parallelism that showcases the digging of the FBI and Law’s Husk, while giving us a peek behind the White Curtain and delicately foreshadowing each next step of Hoult’s Bob Matthews and his followers. And as that plan becomes more and more evident, as a viewer, I couldn’t help but feel my palms get a little sweaty and my stomach start to turn.

The Order is truly an action masterpiece and a product of cinema past because thrillers like this don’t get made very often anymore. Although it terrifyingly echoes a forty year old story and injects you into 1980’s North-West America, it packs a story that feels hauntingly relevant today and deserves to be seen not just because of its entertainment value, but because the red flags it raises in today’s day and age.