Neo-Nazi Crime Thriller ‘The Order’ ‘Needed to Be Made Now’

Jude Law said that his new crime thriller, “The Order,” about the FBI investigation of a Neo-Nazi terrorist group in the ’80s, “needed to be made now.”

At a Venice Film Festival press conference, Law spoke about the importance of the film at a time when far-right ideologies are rising again.

“Sadly, the relevance speaks for itself,” he continued. “It felt like a piece of work that needed to be made now. It’s always interesting finding a piece from the past that has some relevant relationship to the present day.”

Based on true events, the film is set in 1983 Idaho and sees a lone FBI agent (Law) follow a series of increasingly violent bank robberies and car heists, coming to realize that they’re the work of a group of dangerous domestic Neo-Nazi terrorists, inspired by the radical leader Robert Jay Mathews (Nicholas Hoult), who are plotting a war against the U.S. government. Based on the 1989 book “The Silent Brotherhood” by Kevin Flynn and Gary Gerhardt, the film also stars Tye Sheridan, Jurnee Smollett, Alison Oliver and Odessa Young.

Director Justin Kurzel added that the film’s parallels with today’s world were what make it so interesting to make.

“It’s always an extraordinary thing when you find a piece of writing of event from the past that has some sort of perspective that can have a conversation with today’s politics,” he said. “That’s a rare gem. So we felt that there was a lot that was being said about today.”

To create the intensity between Law and Hoult’s characters, the two actors were kept apart until the very first time they shot a scene together.

“We didn’t even speak for the first four or five weeks of filming,” Hoult revealed. “The crew really enjoyed this idea of keeping us as different forces. The first time we spoke was in the first scene where we interact.”

Law was also tasked with trailing Hoult for a day, like his FBI agent would have done. But it wasn’t something that Hoult was even told about until coming to Venice.

“I just found out on the boat here!” he exclaimed.

“The Order” sees Sheridan’s young police officer join Law’s FBI agent on the hunt for the supremacist group, and the actor said he had some experience of the film’s themes from his childhood.

“It’s a great piece exploring how people from a small community can be manipulated by extreme ideology,” Sheridan said. “I grew up in a small town with a population of 1,200, so I’ve definitely seen certain things growing up where people are probably getting violent, especially in these subcultures. In the U.S. you have a specific ideology that is descended from generations living in a small community and not having any exposure, so that was one thing that really drew to the project.”

Vertical is set to release “The Order” in the U.S. in December, while Amazon Prime Video will distribute the feature in multiple international territories.