The Order is a surprisingly effective genre-spin on American white supremacy, refraining from depicting any hate crimes on camera, in favour of giving us a cold, hard stare into the insular and pathetic psychology behind the self-imploding bigots of its titular cult.
To achieve this, director Justin Kurzel draws from several contemporary, more cynical Westerns in the vein of Hell Or High Water and Wind River, while framing the rivalry between its leading white and black hats (Jude Law and Nicholas Holt respectively) with appropriately de-glamourised allusions to Michael Mann’s Heat. It conveys the belief shared by both men that they are the last great American cowboys, rather than temperamental losers who have leaped into one another’s orbit for lack of anything better to do.
Law and Hoult both excel as failed family men hoping to find new purpose in their missions. The former plays Terry Husk, a detective who initially appears almost like Twin Peaks' Dale Cooper in how he rides into town, only to quickly and often reveal himself as a washed up, divorced addict who can't so much as conduct an interview with suffering debilitating nosebleeds. He repeatedly states his goal is to "start slowing down", but the allure of hunting down the members of a far-right conspiracy is the perfect excuse to coming pushing on.
He is complemented by 'Order' leader Bob Mathews, who Hoult plays as more of a broody teen than a charismatic villain. Matthews is estranged from his ashamed parents, barely able to keep control of his men without losing his temper, and is currently between two secret wives, hoping one of them will give him a child. Both Mathews and Husk are inept failures in their respective fields, which makes them a perfect match for one another in a world that otherwise feels exceptionally tired of machoism.
Emblematic of this is Jurnee Smollett, who comes close to stealing the film in a furious, but measured take on what could have been a thankless bit part. The fact that Smollett is the only Black character in the film is not something ever stated aloud, but it informs the many scenes of white men on both sides of the law forcing themselves into the centre of this story. Tye Sheridan rounds out the cast as Jamie, a young married deputy whose considerable achievements become threatened when he is lured into the game of the lesser men around him.
The Order is not a subtle film, but it is an effective critique of masculinity, whilst simultaneously stripping any illusion of valour away from organised hate groups. The result is an icy and uncompromising take on a genre that too often slips into giving easy answers. At one point, Hoult’s character proclaims while on the backfoot that “dead men are remembered for their deeds”, and it is to the credit of Kurzel and his team that the men behind these characters never feel like martyrs, only disenfranchised losers whose failures must always be someone else’s problem.
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