“The Order” (2024) is a brooding investigative thriller that puts another feather in director Justin Kurzel’s cap. After the chilling character portraits in “Nitram” and “The Snowtown Murders,” Kurzel returns with an equally harrowing depiction of evil in human beings. This time, he shifts his focus toward a White Supremacist terrorist group that was active in the 1980s. He paints the picture of a small American town mainly through the eyes of an FBI agent, who ends up in a cat-and-mouse chase with the terrorist group’s members. Although the plot essentially leads us toward its leader’s capture, it is more interested in interrogating the human tendencies that affect the usual order of any place, and how people react in such situations of change.
Spoilers Ahead
The Order (2024) Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis:
“The Order” starring Jude Law offers a grim portrait of an FBI investigation in the 1980s to investigate a white supremacist group, led by Robert Jay Matthews aka Bob Matthews. It is written by Zach Baylin based on a 1989 non-fiction book.
What happens in ‘The Order’ – 2024 film starring Jude Law?
“The Order” is set in the 1980s, more specifically in 1983 and 1984, in the western suburbs of the United States. It follows an investigation into the members of The Order, a White Supremacist terrorist group involved in a series of bank robberies and illegal operations in the Pacific Northwest. Idaho-based FBI agent, Terry Husk (Jude Law) arrives there to look into this matter. However, his wife and daughters do not join him. The film doesn’t reveal anything specific about Husk besides the fact that he is a family man with a troubled past and a detective ready to go to any lengths for his work.
Husk’s colleague, Joanne Carney (Jurnee Smollett) worries that he will take matters too far as he did in their previous operations. Regardless, she agrees to help him with this case. Husk believes that the recent crimes were not orchestrated by a conventional crime unit but by an extremist group. Sheriff Loftlin (Philip Granger) expects Husk not to look into The Order.
He fears it will disrupt the present relationships between the residents. Obviously, he doesn’t want Husk to invite trouble. However, Jamie Bowen (Tye Sheridan), a young police officer, agrees to help Husk investigate the extremists. One of them is Richard Butler (Victor Slezak), a minister associated with a white separatist movement through the idea of Aryan nations.
Richard Butler and the Search for Bob Matthews
Officer Bowen helps Husk learn about The Order, which includes Walter West, his past friend who recently went missing. Bowen also reveals The Order’s plans of building something akin to a war chest, preparing for a race war. It raises Husk’s suspicions about these extremists, but without sufficient proof, he cannot arrest them. Agent Carney admits that they can’t ID any burglars from the recent bank robbery and a bomb blast at a local store since the perpetrators (The Order members) managed to leave without a trace. Shortly after, Walter’s wife leads Husk and Bowen to Gary Yarbrough (George Tchortov) and Bruce Pierce (Sebastian Pigott), who were with Walter before he went missing.
Gary and Bruce were trying to recruit Walter in their plan but eventually decided to shoot him, fearing he would disclose their mission. By following a trail, Husk and Bowen find Walter’s corpse buried in the woods. After this discovery, Sheriff Loftlin is forced to hand over the case to the FBI. Soon, Husk and Bowen drive toward Hayden Lake to meet Minister Butler in person to ask about Gary and Bruce. Butler claims that they are not a part of his congregation. While Husk and Brown are there, Butler tries to enlist them into his church but to no avail.
After this meeting, Butler meets Bob Matthews (Nicholas Hoult), the leader of The Order to warn him about the police investigation into their organization. It doesn’t stop Bob from committing another crime with the Order members in broad daylight. Before Husk and Bowen can reach the crime scene, the masked perpetrators drive away.
Bob Matthews vs Terry Husk
Matthews follows Husk to a solitary spot where Husk goes hunting. While shooting a deer, Husk senses someone’s presence behind him. It turns out to be Matthews. Without saying much, Matthews intimidates Husk and warns him not to interfere in his affairs. Unaware of Matthews’ power within The Order, Husk believes Matthews is just another extremist trying to scare him off. Afterward, Matthews attends Butler’s congregation and challenges him to act instead of only speaking about their beliefs. He gives a potent speech that gets the crowd riled up in support of him.
As it happens, Alan Berg (Marc Maron), a Jewish radio host, keeps speaking against the bigoted attitude of these conservative zealots. So, the conservatives shoot him to death since they see him as a threat to their belief system. Bowen continues working closely with Husk, which concerns Bowen’s wife since she fears it may lead to danger. She notices Husk motivating Bowen’s justice-seeking spirit. After being comfortable living in silence against injustice, seeking justice can seem threatening. Besides, her reaction doesn’t seem too far-fetched considering Berg’s recent murder.
Husk’s Conscience
Husk determinedly follows a lead that directs him to realize that the man he recently met is Bob Matthews, the leader of The Order. So, he and Bowen interview the parents of a fanatic. The parents help Husk locate a base used by the fanatics. By the time the officers show up there, the fanatics flee and drive toward Missoula. Bowen gets furious at the FBI for not following the zealots. So, Husk realizes that he is not the only person driven by this case. Seeing that, he recalls one of his past cases that reached a dead end.
Through that story, he potentially tries to prepare Bowen to get over his guilt if their present case reaches a dead end. It is also possible that he shares this story, feeling that at least Bowen can understand what he has gone through. After all, Husk is a married man, whose family doesn’t live with him. He wishes to unload his emotional burden onto a like-minded person, or he simply prepares himself for the worst by sharing the story.
The Order (2024) Movie Ending Explained:
Does agent Terry Husk find Robert Jay Matthews in the end?
After Berg’s shocking death, Husk and Bowen share their research into the local zealots. It reminds Sheriff Loftlin of a past incident where he let go of a man tied to extremist groups. Carney traces a gun to find Tony Torres (Matias Lucas), who recently became an active member of The Order. Husk scares Torres out of his wits and forces him to be their informant. So, Torres shows up at a motel room to meet Matthews, Pierce, and Yarbrough. Still, under the influence of Matthews’ psychotic fanaticism, Torres shares the truth behind his visit. Before the agents show up, Matthews sneaks out of the motel.
Bowen joins Husk to follow Matthews but gets shot along the way. Husk contemplates whether to follow the zealot or to check on the dying Bowen. He stays back but, unfortunately, he cannot save Bowen, who dies in front of his eyes. After Bowen’s death, Husk shows up at his house. However, Kimmy doesn’t want anything to do with him. She also doesn’t let her son be next to Husk, fearing the danger he might lead them to. Husk feels rejected and hurt, but instead of processing his emotions, he uses his anger to fuel his search for Matthews.
Right after, Husk and Carney meet Bob’s wife, Debbie (Alison Oliver). She reveals Bob’s exact location, having grown unafraid of him by then. Shortly before, she realized that Bob was having a baby with his lover, Zillah Craig (Odessa Young), which fuels her anger toward him. Alas, her words lead the FBI agents to Bob Matthews. A team enters Matthews’ house to catch him alive. However, he shoots most of them to death. So, the other agents decide to burn the house. Husk still hopes to convince Matthews to come out alive. He walks into the burning house and comes face to face with the zealot. However, Matthews chooses to die that way instead of accepting his crimes.
What does the ending of ‘The Order’ mean?
The ending of “The Order” shows Husk and other FBI agents reach Matthews’ cottage to catch him alive. Matthews chooses to die instead, considering it as a sign of his martyrdom for a cause he believed in. Then, the film’s final moments show Husk returning to the solitary spot for hunting. Husk points his sniper at a deer and fixes his focus. The moment he prepares to shoot the animal, the film ends. So, the final scene leads to contemplate the relationship between the hunter and its hunt. Shortly before this scene, Husk had Matthews at his gunpoint at the cottage. Before that, Matthews had Husk at his gunpoint.
In this case, a gun serves as a representational tool for instilling fear in the hunt and an innate desire to feel in control. Husk, who is presented as an enigma, is shown on the good side in the film. However, we do not know for certain whether he is determined to solve his case simply to seek justice or from a desire to gain a sense of control. The zealots, whether from this film or in real life, function with a similar desire. They act out as a result of being subjected to criticism and mistake it as their suppression. It leads them to the extremist mindset that essentially feeds on their insecurities of feeling powerless.
The Order (2024) Movie True Story Explained:
Is Jude Law starrer ‘The Order’ based on a true story? Who is Robert Jay Matthews?
Justin Kurzel’s “The Order” is based on The Silent Brotherhood, a novel written by Kevin Flynn and Gary Gerhardt based on real-life neo-Nazi groups that were active in the 1980s US. In the film, Nicholas Hoult plays Bob Matthews AKA Robert Jay Mathews, who was the leader of the American white supremacist terrorist group the film is titled after. The film offers a close-to-life, dramatized account of how this group developed and how its members spread their vile message by brainwashing the impressionable white people.
Considering the present scenarios in the United States, it offers an eery look at a similar situation where people are indoctrinated into believing that they are the victims of a situation by a deeply regressive, conservative mindset.
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