Australian director Justin Kurzel is coming off his best film, 2021’s “Nitram.” His other works include “Snowtown,” “True History Of The Kelly Gang,” and “MacBeth.” Don’t even ask about his adaptation of “Assassin’s Creed.”
Regardless, “Nitram” won Caleb Landry Jones the Best Actor award at Cannes, and the film got me excited for whatever Kurzel would do next. Enter, “The Order,” starring Jude Law and Nicholas Hoult, an investigative thriller with high potential.
Penned by Zach Baylin (King Richard) and adapted from Kevin Flynn and Gary Gerhardt’s book, “The Silent Brotherhood”, “The Order” follows a real-life ‘80s white supremacist terrorist group in the Pacific Northwest.
“The Order” recently test screened in California. The print shown was said to be close to a final cut. I wouldn’t be surprised if Kurzel goes back to Cannes this summer with this one. Here’s a reaction.
The film is very similar in tone to “Hell or High Water.” It definitely has the feel of Kurzel’s past efforts. It’s super dark and low-key but very nail biting and especially egregious about the true story. It has stunning landscape shots and two great performances in Law and Hoult (the latter so chilling as a Nazi leader who quickly gains power). It’s another strong addition to Kurzel’s filmography. He’s great and milking tension out of the simplest of moments.
Law is said to play the Idaho-based FBI agent tracking down the group, Hoult is the Nazi leader. The rest of the cast is composed of Tye Sheridan, Jurnee Smollett, Odessa Young, Alison Oliver and Marc Maron.
Kurzel is currently shooting his TV series, “The Narrow Road to the Deep North,” starring Jacob Elordi, and based on Richard Flanagan’s novel. He might also go into production this fall on the sci-fi film “Morning,” which currently stars Laura Dern, Benedict Cumberbatch and Noah Jupe.