The Order Movie Review

The Order (2024)

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Written by: Zach Baylin (screenplay), Kevin Flynn & Gary Gerhardt (book)
Directed by: Justin Kurzel
Starring: Jude Law, Nicholas Hoult, Tye Sheridan, Jurnee Smollett, Marc Maron
Rated: R
Watch the trailer

Plot
A string of violent robberies in the Pacific Northwest leads FBI agent Terry Husk to a white supremacist plot to overthrow the federal government.

Verdict
It has the trapping of an police action movie, but it fails to provide an underlying motivation for these characters. The movie hopes that by making the antagonists a white supremacist group that will provide enough foundation, but this comes up lacking. These characters need a reason for their actions, both protagonists and antagonists. They need more depth. What makes this poignant is that it's based on a true story; it's domestic terrorism that continues to happen today. I wish this could provide an answer why groups like this feel their gain must come at the expense of others. What's disappointing is that this could be such a good movie but it feels like half the plot is missing.
It depends.

Review
FBI agent Terry Husk (Jude Law) relocates to Idaho without his family for an easier workload. It seems his family is fractured though we don't get much information on that. This area has a strong brotherhood presence with Terry seeing flyers in public. He's suspicious and wastes no time visiting the local sheriffs' office for more information. Before long Terry follows a lead on Bob Mathews (Nicholas Hoult) and visits the local compound. He's told Bob was kicked out for being militant.

Jude Law, Jurnee Smollett play Terry Husk, Joanne Carney

Terry is chasing Bob Mathews, leader of a splinter cell called The Order. Bob's following the lessons of a white supremacist book. While the primary group wants to gain control by electing their people to office, Bob is looking to shortcut that. He wants to overthrow the government and start a war, using domestic terrorism as the means. I wondered how Terry planned to stop this group. He's a single agent where the brotherhood openly advertises and has a full armory. Even if the city doesn't approve, they aren't actively against it.

Nicholas Hoult plays Bob Mathews

Why can't groups like this live peacefully? The only way they think they can win is taking from others. Their focus is always people they deem lesser than or those disadvantaged. This is a solemn tale of domestic terrorism, made more poignant and terrifying is that this actually happened and continues to happen. Bob Mathews was a real person.

Ultimately I wanted more; a deeper reason for why Terry moved to the area. He relocated for less stress but immediately starts looking for a terrorist group to investigate. Why does Bob want to amass an army other than the weak claims to birthright? Why has violence ensnared him, making him think it's his calling to terrorize the country? Maybe there is no answer and some people are just born bad, but this movie should give us something. It could at least show us why people want to follow Bob, portraying him as charismatic or a great speaker. I don't get a reason as to why these characters are pursuing these plights.