A common complaint you hear from people about movies is that all there is in cinemas is just blockbusters and sequels.
While this isn’t quite true – the box office success of indies and smaller films like A Real Pain, Anora, The Brutalist, Heretic, Longlegs and The Substance can attest to this – clearly there is a problem either with theatregoers or distributors in terms of getting certain movies in front of eyeballs.
An example of this is The Order – a very gripping, exciting, timely and mainstream action crime thriller that should have made a splash in cinemas when it was released but did not.
Was this because it was released in Ireland and the UK immediately after Christmas Day and was pulled from cinema after a week or so? Or was it pulled from theatres because not enough people knew about the movie or went to see it? Whatever the reason, it’s a real shame.
Thankfully though – according to data from JustWatch – the film is finding an audience on Prime Video where it is now streaming.
Directed by Justin Kurzel (fresh off the back of his critically acclaimed movies True History of the Kelly Gang and Nitram), The Order revolves around veteran FBI agent Terry Husk (Jude Law) in the ’80s who – looking for an easier caseload after a string of intense investigations – moves to Idaho.
His peace is shattered, however, when a young local cop named Jamie Bowen (Tye Sheridan) alerts him of his suspicion that a local missing person’s case and a series of robberies and bombings are all linked.
As it turns out, these crimes are being organised by Bob Matthews (Nicholas Hoult), the leader of a neo-Nazi terrorist organization, who is planning to use the money from the group’s heists to finance an armed uprising against the US government.
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Based on true events, The Order is the type of movie they don’t make enough of anymore – an adult-focused crime thriller with a sociological edge.
Kurzel’s muscular direction and the cat-and-mouse game that develops between Law’s frazzled agent and Hoult’s cold-as-ice thief and killer recalls Michael Mann’s Heat.
But there are also shades of The French Connection, In the Heat of the Night and Mississippi Burning in the way the film’s investigation plot evolves into a portrait of the dark underbelly of society that is often ignored.
This is before a haunting final title card ties the events of the movie directly to the present day.
The Order also boasts two brilliant central performances from Hoult and Law.
The former – who between this, Juror No. 2 and Nosferatu has established himself as one of the most versatile actors in his age range – is terrifically terrifying, boasting the charm and confidence necessary to make audiences believe he could radicalise people into doing his bidding.
That being said, the actor – just in his wide-open stares and his quiet but intense delivery of dialogue – also imbues Matthews with an incredibly sinister edge.
All the while, Jude Law gives one of his best performances ever, as a man who has already seen too many horrors but feels compelled to continue to investigate Hoult’s neo-Nazi – even at a deep cost to himself – because he knows it is the right thing to do.
Nailing the perfect mix of world-weariness but righteous anger, just the way Law carries himself tells you more about his FBI agent than the script ever could.
Occasionally the screenplay by Zach Baylin (King Richard) feels like it’s skirting over some of the more interesting elements on the fringes of its story – perhaps in an effort to cut down the film’s running time.
Female characters played by Alison Oliver, Jurnee Smollett and Odessa Young also get short shrift, while Husk’s wife ends up being entirely absent from the movie despite being talked about a lot.
But these criticisms aside, The Order definitely deserves a watch – particularly if you love crime thrillers and you missed it during its cinema release.
The Order is now available to stream on Prime Video in the UK and Ireland.