In “The Order,” an exciting and visceral docudrama focused on the origins of the contemporary American white supremacist movement in the 1980s, there is a moment that is so unnerving, yet so informative. Two movement leaders meet in an isolated setting somewhere in the countryside in Idaho. One of the men, Richard Butler (Victor Slezak), is the blue eyed, fair haired, so called white Christian nationalist and founder of the Aryan Nations, a near by neo Nazi cult with a compound. He is a racist radical, but tempered with the character of a courteous preacher, and emphasizes the significance of the need for his movement to expand.
Matthews, a man who considered Butler as his mentor before, was a part of Matthews. But Matthews disagrees with the way Butler operates and feels the Aryan Nations are not instigating enough violence. Matthews focuses on combative measures and wants an uprising. Matthews has bravaded a group of insurgents known as the Turner Order, named after the Turner Diaries where the Turner Order fought against the state. Matthews claims that these men regrouping under the ‘Turner Order’ are a small group of ‘restless terrorists’. They bomb places like cinemas and synagogues, dressed in ski masks holding guns, they rob banks and armoured vehicles. Their intentions when engaging in such crimes were to take a share of the loot for themselves while also supporting their members by creating a strong force ready to go against the US government (One of the robberies earned them 3.6 million dollars). At one point of the film, Matthews and his men execute one of their own in an act of malice.
Butler meets with Matthews to caution him about his excessive use of violence in trying to achieve his goals. This is against the doctrine of the organization. However, Chapman’s vision that this will: in the future even include Congressmen and Senators is a message that Matthews will not be able to stomach. The man is determined and devoted to seeing his idea of a revolution through, even if it be the end of the world as we know it or audiences know quite well. Terry Husk, who is the FBI veteran agent who is seen to be leading the FBI in the movie, agrees with me. This is not a new statement. It is slaughter, tragedy, bloodbath where America lies at the center of destruction.
But what the audience must learn is this this leadership does not possess suave intelligence or experience. See, Matthews is the equivalent of a posh wilting flower, incapable of growing muscles unless bleeding from the ears. Matthews does more than aspiring and rambling issues. His plot is known to most audience as it unfolds throughout the documentary towards the ending. Another interesting plot point revealed indiscreetly is that Matthews also manages to kill Alan Berg, who is portrayed to be a Jewish talk radio host. He is just another crazy person in this universe. But consider the irony of it Matthews embodies the swiftness of focus even amidst illusory ideas. It will make you feel nauseated and astonished at the same time.
The screenplay was done by Zach Baylin while Justin Kurzel was the director of the film and also happened to do a stellar job on the movie Nitram which quite audibly depicts the inhumanity that was the Port Arthur massacre in Tasmania in the year of 1996. It is a complex docudrama that traces the shifting contours of the white supremacist movement in America but more importantly, its also a great crime thriller at the same time. And, I must say, Kurzel is a classical filmmaker, as he captures the beauty, and now the emptiness, of the Northwestern mountain landscapes, as well as the day to day activities of the amateur criminals in this particular film. This film contains everything burglaries, shooting sprees, trailing and interceptions, interrogations, and so forth, features that are frequently associated with police dramas. And all the time, it is engrossingly suspenseful.
Despite this, though, it is never filled with suspense as Kurzel is creating the tension reliant sequence. “The Order” is carefully researched and even more meticulous when it comes down to the details. This is where the Bureau, mostly because Husk randomally gets caught up in the first place, married now undone, and center base in the virtually desolate town of Coeur d’alene, is now assigned. Initially, when they begin their investigation, some of their tactics may appear queit, if not quite dull, to some. But that is purely because the film depicts the reality which the FBI is: a bunch of regular agents not superheroes in uniform who in the years free of high end gadgets had to advance step by step.
Jude Law, looking tired and thick about the waist with visible wear of a mustache plays the role of Terry as a dedicated agent of his country with an undisturbed mind (with the family lost and a job being a single anchor), and perhaps this is the depiction that redefines Jude Law better than ever before. Law’s Terry, who works with the local officer played impressively by Tye Sheridan, puts the best of him, since Terry comes off as a bitter and toughened man who had a rough childhood and thus a clear lock on why criminals do what they do is essential. He has done time in New York hunting down gangsters and one of the ideas he has impressed me with is that there is an evolution of sorts that exists within the pecking order of the mob, the kkk and now the order itself, there is a feedback loop if you will. What he says is what he means: All belonging to these groups profess a cause but at the end of the day, there is an individualistic agenda.
We see that in Nicholas Hoult’s powerfully convincing performance as Bob Matthews, a man driven by C4 hate. The resemblance remains strikingly accurate as Hoult hails from Matthews’ lineage; even with the stereotypes that come with his image, the actor delivers on the qualities outlined through brilliant scenes that are hard to dismiss.
He demonstrates to us that Matthews’ ideologies are absolute, which is to say, he exists in those beliefs, but that they’ve instilled him with a passion such that he makes for a reasonable charismatic leader and thuggish ringleader at the same time.
In what becomes a disturbing about face for Holt, Matthews comes up to the church to witness one of Butler’s callisk kiss sermons, and When he makes a move to say why the white power revolution ought to begin right away and not wait until it’s already late, we are made to see in Matthews how deeply he is attached to this cause, and how he tries to drown the audience with his cult of ‘glorious danger instead of death’. In fact, Matthews is a rather loathsome individual. He and his wife, Debbie (Alison Oliver), are what’s those people consent parents, they’ve got other kinda children but since he is adamant on continuing his family heritage, he is also in a relationship with his mistress, Zillah (Odessa Young). He did so with the same reckless abandon that would later characterize the excesses of David Koresh, some 10 years in the future. However, Matthews gaze and focus on his opponent or one of his adherents who he suspects of treachery, transforms his face into that of murderer with killer eyes of a professional.
The ’80s witnessed quite an uptight Robert Matthews and the Order fanfare when Hollywood (August 1988) produced the movie Betrayed with Tom Berenger and Debra Winger under Costa Gavras’ direction. However unsettling and astonishing the exposure of a neo Nazi underground may be, many could have not predicted what form would their ultimate emergence take on democratic America. Despite sticking to the facts of 1983 and 1984, ”The Order” portrays itself as an encouraging metaphor of modern times the coupling of MAGA and Christian nationalism, as well as the racial undertones and many times even the open racism of Donald Trump’s election campaign. The first of them deals with the so called Turner Diaries, Joseph’s close reading of the novel of neo nazi William Luther Pierce who was a founding leader of the National Alliance which was published in 1978 and turned out to be the movement’s bible for many years. It was a fable meant for children, it was a terrorism manual (with six stages dedicated on how to revolt against the US government), and, it was a book on hate mythology.
Although “The Order” is disturbing in many respects, it is commendable in that it highlights how white supremacy in America is a duality: it is both the legal and “presentable” portion, and the barbaric bottom layer. There is a form of racist who doesn’t see the U.S. government as an enemy, and that’s fine. But “The Order” does show that “the struggle” to view the United States federal government as the enemy which I would argue is the most neglected dimension of Trumpism after January 6 and after Stop the Steal, has origins which in the psychology, history and culture, are intimately fused with white supremacy. As the film reveals in its reverse chronology, Bob Matthews died for his beliefs in what was an eighties’ version of a burning Waco. However, it does not follow that his creed succumbed to the flames.
For more movies like The Order visit 123Movies.