Movie Review: The Order

A movie that makes you think, read, wonder! Not very often, is it? Justin Kurzel’s The Order does it. There, now that I have that out of the way, let’s get to talking more elaborately about this film.

The Order is based on the 1989 book The Silent Brotherhood: The Chilling Inside Story of America’s Violent, Anti-Government Militia Movement written by Kevin Flynn and Gary Gerhardt. I have not read the book, but I wish I had! Because The Order is the kind of troubling story that we should have known much earlier. But as it turns out, the film could not have come out at a better time. The context seems only too pertinent in today’s America… and the world overall. A world that is increasingly radical.

The story is about a white supremacist outfit referred to as ‘The Order’, a name that was inspired by a book titled The Turner Diaries (1978) written by William Luther Pierce, founder of the neo-Nazi organisation “National Alliance”. The book not only inspired the name of the outfit, but also its actions. At its centre was Bob Mathews, a brainwashed person with an innate ability to accumulate fighters for his cause. And he intends to challenge the government of the United States even knowing that he may not see success in his lifetime. “Cattle die, kinsmen die, I shall die too. But the thing that I know that never dies, it’s the fame of a dead man’s deeds,” he explains to one of the members, stressing how he believed what he was doing was right.

The writers are clever enough to outline that Bob Mathews and his ilk were just an aberration. When Terry Husk visits Bob’s parents during his investigation, it is explained that the parents were what you would expect people to be like. Relatively well off, they were as upset that their child turned out to be so hateful. In a carefully worded scene, the makers delve into the fact that parents can only protect their children, not live their lives for them. So what Bob went on to become is not necessarily an outcome of his upbringing. And there is Alan Berg, the famous radio host who fell prey to Bob’s rage in 1984, shot dead. Alan’s statement holds what might be a sane world’s viewpoint – “You know what my problem is with every fanatic fundamentalist, from the Catholics, to the Orthodox, to the KKK? The one thing you all have in common is, and you’re too ignorant to see it, is that you’re too inept to get by in the world, so your only recourse is to try and curtail the enjoyment of others.”

Unfortunately, the film does not quite delve into the reasons behind why Bob did what he did. The screenplay is strictly, and possibly justifiably so, about the impact of what he did and how he was hunted down. The screenplay is tight, never losing force for a moment despite the lingering shots and relaxed edits.

The film is shot beautifully, utilising everything from the wilderness of Idaho to close-ups of spectacular Jude Law. The film rides on Law and Nicholas Hoult’s (Bob Mathews) brilliant performances. And they are helped by some amazing dialogue writing which builds their characters.

The Order is a movie for the present and for the ages. It is possibly a movie that you could take something away from. I know I did.

The Order is available on Amazon Prime Video.

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