The Order

Featuring startling performances from Jude Law (Vox Lux, TIFF ʼ18; Dom Hemingway, TIFF ʼ13) , Tye Sheridan (The Forger, TIFF ’14), and Nicholas Hoult (TIFF ’22’s The Menu), this riveting historical thriller from director Justin Kurzel (Nitram) and screenwriter Zach Baylin (King Richard) recreates one of the largest manhunts in FBI history. Based on Kevin Flynn and Gary Gerhardt’s nonfiction bestseller The Silent Brotherhood, The Order depicts a domestic terrorist group determined to promote their racist ideology — and the lawmen who will go to any lengths to stop them.

The year is 1983. A series of bank robberies and car heists plague the Pacific Northwest. Believing these crimes to be connected to a white supremacist organization, FBI Agent Husk (Law) undertakes an investigation with the aid of an eager young small-town deputy (Sheridan). Their search leads them to Robert Jay Mathews (Hoult), a charismatic cult leader recruiting a small army to raise funds for an armed revolution. As their paths bring them into ever-closer proximity, Husk and Mathews’ powerful convictions will ensure only one of them will emerge from their inevitable confrontation.

Distinguished by gorgeous pastoral landscapes and a brooding score, The Order cultivates an atmosphere of dread and intrigue. But the film’s greatest asset lies in its main character, a veteran agent whose obsessiveness is fuelled by alcohol and estrangement from his family. Law (also at the Festival with Eden) has never been more unnervingly compelling. At the heart of his performance lies a fascination with a persistent darkness hiding in our culture — one that threatens to consume those dedicated to dragging it out of the shadows.

ROBYN CITIZEN

Content advisory: violence, mature themes, coarse language