The Order (La hermandad silenciosa)

I watched this because I have really enjoyed his other movies. I thought Nitram in particular was underrated because of its subject sensitive matter.

What Nitram did though, and this film never managed, was it made me look at things from a different perspective. The concept that the person behind a mass shooting is, exactly that, a person, is just nothing I had given consideration to before. Easier to label a monster (which they are, but there are reasons behind this) and move on than to think about it.

I guess therefore I was expecting to try and understand something here. Like it was going to say something. But in the end it felt very procedural. Some white guys are racist because they are and some other guy hunts them down because he does. Honestly, that's about it.

I never felt for a second like I understood anything about Nicholas Holts character or why he was a complete (insert word rhyming with duck) head. I guess there is an argument that you don't want to give oxygen but I feel this film maker has had a lot more to say in the past and if you aren't going to say anything then probably don't say anything at all.

Anyway, not offensive but just very very average.

The Order is about Bob Matthews and his group referenced in the title that is on a small-town white power crusade. I was interested to see this movie because of the great cast and interesting twist including a few bank robberies. While it is super beautiful to look at and the main cast (Jude Law & Nicholas Hoult) do great, it didn't leave much of an impact on me. However, it was a fun time seeing it on the big screen.

The positives: The casting is great and the idaho landscape makes for beautiful shots. I really liked the exciting bank robbing parts as well as well as a being a grizzled detective drama. Bob Matthews is a interesting but vile character who has a weird personality of being a "family-man" and friendly but also blowing up p*rn theatres and killing innocents. I thought he was the best character in the movie, however the rest of the character's are pretty much one-note. I will get to that in the negatives, I also liked the score as well with it being very melodic but brooding at times (not your average detective drama score). The plot overall is fascinating and can be thrilling at times with well done robberies, chases, and some emotional moments.

Negatives: Like I said the characters besides Bob Matthews are pretty one note. I liked Jude law as a detective but he really dosen't do much except be the veteran grizzled detective with a young naive partner. The movie dosen't have the story structure to really make you care all that much about anyone. Sometimes scenes would bounce from one to another just to get to the next thrilling moments (which were solid). Also some dumb moments like a multiple moments where characters risk their lives in obvious situations where the cards are stacked against them and they don't need too.

All in all I would recommend if you wanna watch a pretty alright detective drama with some beautiful shots. I do not dislike the movie but its more of a vehicle for this great cast to handle a interesting story rather than interesting characters.

The Order is a film that stands out for its technical quality. The cinematography is stunning, the soundtrack fits perfectly in every situation, and the acting is quite strong, especially from Jude Law and Nicholas Hoult. There's clearly been a lot of care in how the film was made, and the fact that it's based on real events adds weight and relevance.

Despite all these important aspects, the movie didn't really pull me in. The pacing was slowish, not in a way that builds suspense or depth, but rather in a way that made it hard to stay emotionally invested. Scenes lingered without always adding much, and I often found myself waiting for something to fully click.

I think the main issue is that the film lacked some much-needed background, particularly when it came to crucial character development and the broader historical context. While I understood the general facts and timeline, I never really felt connected to the people involved or what was truly at stake, both for them as individuals and for the country as a whole. It felt like there was an emotional distance that the film never bridged.

In the end, it's a film I admire for its craft, but not one that truly moved me. They really were spot on in some crucial areas, the acting, the visuals, the tone, which only made it more disappointing when the film didn't quite come together as a whole. It had so much potential to be powerful and immersive, but instead, it left me feeling a bit cold and unfulfilled.

Midway through the movie, I suddenly remembered Jude Law is British-he's so convincing in this role. His performance, along with the rest of the cast, was excellent. Nicholas Hoult, in particular, was a standout. I couldn't have imagined him as a cult leader, having mostly seen him in quirky or sci-fi roles, but this film showcased his range brilliantly. Tye Sheridan was fantastic as always, and it was great to see him in a bigger project again. I really liked when he was upset with the FBI's incompetence. Jurnee Smollett also delivered a strong performance.

One scene that really stuck with me was the discovery of the body. I think it's my "favorite" one; it felt disturbingly real and visceral, especially with the character using his hands to dig up the grave instead of a shovel. That detail made it feel grounded, almost like you were right there, literally watching dirty work.

The pacing is slow, but it builds towards a more gripping third act. The motel shootout was shock, and it's in the final act where everything comes together. I think you usually have it in the back of your head, absentmindedly even, that the main characters will make it so the theatre gasped. The film touches on themes of hate , and it's always ironic and unsettling to hear people using the guise of faith to spread such. It was pretty interesting to me that the book referenced in the story is connected to real-world events like January 6 as well.

While I wasn't blown away, the movie met my expectations-which were sorta high. It's well-made and believable, even if it leans on familiar archetypes and tropes: the hate-filled ideology, the cult dynamics, the people working to dismantle it. So while nothing in the movie really surprises or blows you away, it's that familiarity makes the story feel real because characters like these do exist.

In the end, while it didn't resonate with me on a deeper level or stick with me after the credits rolled, it's a solid film with strong performances and a compelling, relevant narrative.

The Order is a mostly paint-by-numbers crime drama with some solid execution.

I don't have too much to say about this film since it's actually not really stand-out in any way. It's at its best when focused on the life and times of members in The Order and fleshing out this world of the rural pacific northwest. Nicholas Hoult is having a hell of a year and this is another great performance to add to the resume for the year. Everyone is was just okay performance-wise but there has to be some blame on the writers for leaning so deeply into the hard-boiled detective tropes. Sometimes the FBI officers just act way too-cool-for-school and it shows some laziness on the writers' part. A nice foil to that is Jamie (Tye Sheridan) who does a fantastically accurate impression of a small town cop. I'll be a defector and say that I actually enjoyed the action sequences, and I like that details within action plot points have actual effect later in the story. I'm getting a lot of No Country For Old Men influence, and that's a good thing.

The film has a really good handle on itself with a steady mix of tension building and discovery until the third act in which themes muddy significantly. There was some kind of two-sides-of-the-same-coin subtheme being attempted in the end between Terry and Bob that didn't really work for me, and cops suddenly lose all the discipline they had earlier in the film to do action hero things. There is a whole lot of world building in the film that adds to the whole rural aesthetic but I wonder if it contributed to its slow pacing. The film certainly felt long for a less than 2 hour movie.

Enjoyable crime thriller with some salient themes of racism and uprising to think about.