The Order | Film Review

While investigating a series of bank robberies, FBI agent Terry Husk (Jude Law) is led to investigate a white supremacist group called 'The Order'.

I was looking forward to this film just as a fan of Nicholas Hoult, though it wasn't one I was particularly excited for. But I've seen a few similarly-themed movies, so it was interesting to see how this one differed.

I liked this film, but I didn't love it or enjoy it as much as I wanted to.

The first thing I have to point out is the acting. All of the actors were amazing in their roles, particularly Hoult, Law, Jurnee Smollett and Tye Sheridan who all carried the film so well.

There were definitely sections of the film that were very engaging, but I didn't find the entirety of the film engaging. There were scenes that, while necessary, seemed either too long or not really moving the story forward.

The pacing could have been a bit tighter, but overall for a straight 2 hour movie it works quite well.

I think the fundamental issue for me was that, having an equal focus on the detectives and the 'order' didn't quite work. For me to really enjoy the movie I needed more of one and less of the other, in any direction. 

The benefit of this would be getting to know any of the characters better, either positively or negatively. We know who we're supposed to root for, and we do root for the right people, but it would have been nice to really be shown the difference between 'good' and 'evil'.

The film also didn't feel as sinister as I expected it to. It felt like we didn't see as much from the 'order' outside of bank robberies and speeches, and it would have been interesting to see more of what made them so horrific.

Overall, I definitely had some problems with this film, but I do think it was a successful crime thriller - definitely worth a watch.

6.5/10