{ "id": "epa7vs90rx", "slug": "the-order-2024-film", "title": "The Order (2024 film)", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery", "label": "Crime, thriller, and mystery films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery.2023-2024-films", "label": "2023–2024 films", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery.2023-2024-films" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery", "label": "United States · 2021 and later: Crime, thriller, and mystery films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery", "path": [ { "id": "geo.us", "label": "United States", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021", "label": "United States · 2021 and later", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery", "label": "Crime, thriller, and mystery films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery" } ] } ], "excerpt": "The Order is a 2024 crime thriller directed by Justin Kurzel, starring Jude Law and Nicholas Hoult in a dramatization of the FBI manhunt for a white supremacist terrorist group.", "snippet": "The Order is a 2024 crime thriller directed by Justin Kurzel, starring Jude Law and Nicholas Hoult in a dramatization of the FBI manhunt for a white supremacist terrorist group.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery.2023-2024-films", "markdown": "# The Order (2024 film)\n\n**The Order** is a 2024 crime thriller film directed by [Justin Kurzel](https://www.edgepedia.org/justin-kurzel), adapted by Zach Baylin from the 1989 nonfiction book *The Silent Brotherhood* by journalists Kevin Flynn and Gary Gerhardt. It dramatizes the FBI manhunt for the Order, a white supremacist terrorist group active in the [Pacific Northwest](https://www.edgepedia.org/pacific-northwest) in the early 1980s, and stars [Jude Law](https://www.edgepedia.org/jude-law) as FBI agent Terry Husk, Nicholas Hoult as the group's leader Bob Mathews, Tye Sheridan, Jurnee Smollett, and Marc Maron.[1](https://www.labiennale.org/en/cinema/2024/venezia-81-competition/order) • [2](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2024-11-27/jude-law-nicholas-hoult-justin-kurzel-the-order)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Director / screenwriter | Justin Kurzel; screenplay by Zach Baylin, from *The Silent Brotherhood* (1989) by Kevin Flynn and Gary Gerhardt[1](https://www.labiennale.org/en/cinema/2024/venezia-81-competition/order) |\n| Principal cast | Jude Law (Terry Husk), Nicholas Hoult (Bob Mathews), Tye Sheridan (Jamie Bowen), Jurnee Smollett (Joanne Carney), Marc Maron (Alan Berg)[1](https://www.labiennale.org/en/cinema/2024/venezia-81-competition/order) |\n| Runtime / country | 116 minutes; English-language, credited to Canada[1](https://www.labiennale.org/en/cinema/2024/venezia-81-competition/order) |\n| Festival debut | In competition at the Venice Film Festival on August 31, 2024; nominated for the Golden Lion[3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt26625693/releaseinfo/) • [4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt26625693/awards/) |\n| Theatrical release | US limited release December 6, 2024, distributed by Vertical; UK release December 27, 2024 through MetFilm Distribution[5](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt26625693/) • [6](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/the-order-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0xmdi2mde1) |\n| Box office | Worldwide gross of $2,270,354, of which $2,010,901 was domestic; opening weekend $877,855[5](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt26625693/) |\n| Critical reception | Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer 93% from 161 reviews; Metacritic Metascore 75 based on 37 critic reviews[7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_order_2024) • [8](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-order-2024/) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Plot and subject\n\nSet in 1983 and 1984, the film follows a series of increasingly violent bank robberies, counterfeiting operations, and armored car heists that frighten communities across the Pacific Northwest. FBI veteran Terry Husk, stationed in [Coeur d'Alene, Idaho](https://www.edgepedia.org/coeur-dalene-idaho), comes to believe the crimes are the work not of ordinary, financially motivated criminals but of domestic terrorists: a white supremacist cell led by Bob Mathews that plots armed uprising against the federal government, financed by millions in stolen cash. Husk works with local officer Jamie Bowen and FBI agent Joanne Carney to connect the crimes, which include a synagogue bombing, and pursues Mathews to a final standoff.[1](https://www.labiennale.org/en/cinema/2024/venezia-81-competition/order) • [9](https://arcana.com/feature-films/the-order/)\n\n[The Turner Diaries](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-turner-diaries), a 1978 novel depicting a violent white supremacist overthrow of the United States government, functions as a recurring element in the film: Mathews reads from it, and investigators find it at crime scenes. The real Mathews formally named his group the Silent Brotherhood, but he and his comrades referred to it as \"The Order,\" the same term used in the novel for its protagonists' militant organization; the film takes its title from this usage.[10](https://www.wired.com/story/real-story-the-order-fbi-movie-bob-mathews/)\n\n## The true story\n\nThe Order was a real terrorist organization that existed briefly in the 1980s, led by [Robert Jay Mathews](https://www.edgepedia.org/robert-jay-mathews). Its members took an oath by standing in a circle around a white infant, and the group committed a series of increasingly bold bank and armored-car robberies in an effort to provoke a race war. Its most notorious action was the 1984 murder of Denver talk-radio host [Alan Berg](https://www.edgepedia.org/alan-berg), a Jewish broadcaster; as the film portrays, on June 18, 1984, Berg was shot dead in his driveway by Order member Bruce Pierce. The manhunt ended on December 8, 1984, when a standoff lasting more than 30 hours on [Whidbey Island](https://www.edgepedia.org/whidbey-island) in Puget Sound, one of the largest in FBI history, ended in Mathews's death.[11](https://apnews.com/article/9bb1ff78dc29ffa5bcd498173f8e9b86) • [12](https://time.com/7200224/the-order-movie-true-story/) • [13](https://www.euronews.com/culture/2024/09/01/venice-2024-review-the-order-jude-law-vs-white-supremacists)\n\nThe story retains contemporary resonance for its makers. Director Justin Kurzel has said that development accelerated after January 6, 2021, when nooses were hung in front of the US Capitol imitating the fictional insurrection depicted in The Turner Diaries; he described the film as a manhunt into that hate and a warning shot of what has been and what may come.[1](https://www.labiennale.org/en/cinema/2024/venezia-81-competition/order) Screenwriter Zach Baylin told WIRED that he and producer Bryan Haas found the novel while researching [Ruby Ridge](https://www.edgepedia.org/ruby-ridge), the 1990s militia movement, and [Oklahoma City](https://www.edgepedia.org/oklahoma-city) bomber [Timothy McVeigh](https://www.edgepedia.org/timothy-mcveigh), who had photocopied pages of the book in his getaway car; the film's robbery and heist scenes stay close to the source book's account.[10](https://www.wired.com/story/real-story-the-order-fbi-movie-bob-mathews/)\n\nTerry Husk, the lead FBI character, is fictional. Jude Law, who described the character as damaged, said the script's figure was invented for the story; Law also served as a producer through his company Riff Raff Entertainment.[14](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/awards/story/2025-01-07/jude-law-fbi-agent-the-order-damaged) • [1](https://www.labiennale.org/en/cinema/2024/venezia-81-competition/order)\n\n## Production and release\n\nKurzel, an Australian director previously known for Snowtown (2011), Macbeth (2015), [True History of the Kelly Gang](https://www.edgepedia.org/true-history-of-the-kelly-gang) (2019), and Nitram (2021), made The Order his first American-set project. Production companies included AGC Studios, Chasing Epic Pictures, Riff Raff Entertainment, and Arcana Studio, with cinematography by Adam Arkapaw, editing by Nick Fenton, and a score by Jed Kurzel.[2](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2024-11-27/jude-law-nicholas-hoult-justin-kurzel-the-order) • [1](https://www.labiennale.org/en/cinema/2024/venezia-81-competition/order)\n\nThe film premiered on August 31, 2024, in the Venezia 81 competition at Venice, and screened at the Toronto, Zurich, and Mill Valley festivals before its limited United States theatrical release on December 6, 2024, through Vertical Entertainment. It began streaming in the United States on December 24, 2024.[3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt26625693/releaseinfo/) • [7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_order_2024) In the United Kingdom, where MetFilm Distribution handled the release, the [British Board of Film Classification](https://www.edgepedia.org/british-board-of-film-classification) certified the film on November 29, 2024, with advice for discrimination, strong violence, threat, language, and brief sex.[6](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/the-order-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0xmdi2mde1)\n\n## Reception\n\nCritical response was generally favorable. On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 93% Tomatometer from 161 reviews, with a critics consensus praising Law and Hoult's performances, and an audience Popcornmeter score of 89% from more than 250 verified ratings.[7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_order_2024) Metacritic assigned a Metascore of 75, based on 37 critic reviews, with 30 rated positive, 7 mixed, and none negative; the site's user score stood at 7.1.[8](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-order-2024/) Critics frequently highlighted Hoult's portrayal of Mathews as charismatic and menacing, Kurzel's action sequences, and the film's topicality, while some found the plotting predictable or the treatment restrained.[7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_order_2024) • [8](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-order-2024/) • [15](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-order-review-2024)\n\nTheatrical earnings were modest for a wide release: a $877,855 domestic opening and a total worldwide gross of $2,270,354, with domestic revenue accounting for 88.6% of the total. Releases in Russia/CIS, the United Kingdom, the [United Arab Emirates](https://www.edgepedia.org/united-arab-emirates), Lithuania, and Türkiye added the remaining international receipts.[5](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt26625693/)\n\n## Awards\n\nThe Order received 4 wins and 11 nominations. It was nominated for the [Golden Lion](https://www.edgepedia.org/golden-lion) at Venice in 2024 and later for a Satellite Award for Best Motion Picture, Drama. Wins included the Australian Screen Editors award for Best Editing in a Feature Film (Nick Fenton), the Australian Screen Sound Guild award for Best Sound Mixing, and body-of-work honors for Nicholas Hoult from the San Diego Film Critics Society and the Oklahoma Film Critics Circle.[4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt26625693/awards/)\n\n## References\n\n1. [Biennale Cinema 2024 | The Order, La Biennale di Venezia](https://www.labiennale.org/en/cinema/2024/venezia-81-competition/order)\n2. [Jude Law, Nicholas Hoult explore American hate in 'The Order', Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2024-11-27/jude-law-nicholas-hoult-justin-kurzel-the-order)\n3. [The Order (2024) - Release info, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt26625693/releaseinfo/)\n4. [The Order (2024) - Awards, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt26625693/awards/)\n5. [The Order (2024), Box Office Mojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt26625693/)\n6. [The Order, British Board of Film Classification](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/the-order-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0xmdi2mde1)\n7. [The Order (2024), Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_order_2024)\n8. [The Order Reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-order-2024/)\n9. [The Order, Arcana Studio](https://arcana.com/feature-films/the-order/)\n10. [The Real Story of The Order, WIRED](https://www.wired.com/story/real-story-the-order-fbi-movie-bob-mathews/)\n11. [Jude Law and Nicholas Hoult lead thriller about the real FBI manhunt for a white supremacist leader, Associated Press](https://apnews.com/article/9bb1ff78dc29ffa5bcd498173f8e9b86)\n12. [The Real Terrorist Group that Inspired The Order, TIME](https://time.com/7200224/the-order-movie-true-story/)\n13. [Venice 2024 review: 'The Order', Euronews](https://www.euronews.com/culture/2024/09/01/venice-2024-review-the-order-jude-law-vs-white-supremacists)\n14. [Jude Law wanted his FBI agent in 'The Order' to be damaged, Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/awards/story/2025-01-07/jude-law-fbi-agent-the-order-damaged)\n15. [Venice review: 'The Order', Time Out](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-order-review-2024)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Crime, thriller, and mystery films (individual works) › 2023–2024 films*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/the-order-2024-film", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/the-order-2024-film.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"The Order (2024 film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/the-order-2024-film. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[The Order (2024 film)](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-order-2024-film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/the-order-2024-film](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-order-2024-film). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"The Order (2024 film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/the-order-2024-film. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "The Order is a 2024 crime thriller directed by Justin Kurzel, starring Jude Law and Nicholas Hoult in a dramatization of the FBI manhunt for a white supremacist terrorist group." }