THE ORDER Review: Extremely Standard, Extremely Well Done

The Order follows in BlacKkKlansman's footsteps as a based-on-a-true-story film about police taking on white supremacists.

But where BlacKkKlansman used humor to draw viewers in and highlight the absurdity of the KKK's worldview, The Order is almost entirely dour, arguably a more appropriate register for a story like this.

The film's cold open begins with radio host Alan Berg (Marc Maron) responding to an anti-semitic rant from a caller, before shifting us to three white supremacists listening and commenting on how Berg "needs a couple barrels in his mouth." Moments later, two of the racists execute the third for talking too much.

It's rough stuff that perfectly sets a tone that's only affirmed by the introduction of FBI agent Terry Husk (Jude Law) establishing connections around town and going out hunting alone. Husk just moved to Idaho in an attempt to slow down and be with his family, a family that in theory is going to join him, but never does over the course of the film's years-long tale.

Of course, it doesn't take long for Husk to pick up on some surprisingly professional methods used in a recent spate of bank robberies in the greater Pacific Northwest and throw himself into discovering who's behind them and why. What he discovers, with the help of a bright young local officer (played wonderfully as always by Tye Sheridan), is an organization, led by the charismatic Bob Matthews (Nicholas Hoult), preparing to incite a national race war.

From here, it's fairly easy to see where the film will go. The game of cat and mouse offers up some nail-bitingly tense set-pieces that inevitably give way to brutal matter of fact violence with gunshots so loud they remind viewers of the iconic sound design of Michael Mann's Heat. Also reminiscent of Heat (and many, many other crime dramas), is the similarity of Husk and Mathews as men who will never know true human intimacy because their dedication to their causes is explicitly called out. It's easy enough to guess the fate of the aforementioned bright young local officer, and just in case it's not easy enough, his loving wife tells Husk he makes her scared when he comes over for dinner at one point.

While The Order doesn't offer any surprises, it's a fantastically satisfying ride. Adam Arkapaw's stark photography makes the film feel palpably real in both its moments of cruelty and beauty. It's a beauty that's largely offered by the majestic landscapes of the Pacific Northwest but also shines through in some of Husk's relationships, particularly his friendship with a fellow agent, played by Jurnee Smollet, who makes the most of her limited screen time.

Director Justin Kurzel's patience in building suspense and "action" sequences combines with the severe look to make every instance of violence more jarring than exciting. Hoult and Law's physical transformations from pretty boys into beefy men of action may not totally work (Law pulls it off better than Hoult), but the intensity of their performances leaves no room for doubting that these men are willing to do whatever it takes to achieve their goals.

The Order is a meat-and-potatoes crime drama that leans into its genre trappings with such force that it ends up feeling powerfully archetypal rather than cliche. It creates a sense that these men are fundamentally American and will cyclically haunt us well before an epilogue title card notes that the organizers of the January 6 Capitol attack drew from the same book that inspired Matthews.

The film opens Friday, December 6, only in movie theaters, via Vertical Entertainment.