For those of you who like action thrillers, especially ones with historical context, there is one in theaters now starring Jude Law--The Order. It’s based on a book published in 1989 called The Silent Brotherhood, which was written by Kevin Flynn and Gary Gerhardt.
The movie follows an FBI agent in 1983 who is investigating a recent batch of bank robberies and other criminal activities. Through his investigation, he begins to suspect a man named Robert "Bob" Mathews is behind the crime spree. Mathews is a white supremacist who founded The Order in an effort to spread the desire to eradicate the existence of members of the Jewish population and other minorities.
Jude Law plays FBI Agent Terry Husk while Nicholas Hoult portrays Mathews. In addition to the starring roles, the film features Jurnee Smollett, Tye Sheridan, Alison Oliver, Odessa Young, and Marc Maron. The Order was written by Zach Baylin with Justin Kurzel directing the feature. Along with Law as a producer, they also served as executive producers.
The film isn't streaming right now, but it will land on Prime Video internationally. Moviegoers in the U.S. have the opportunity to watch the movie thanks to a limited theatrical release. If you'd like some historical background on Agent Husk and Bob's story, here's what we know.
What is the true story behind The Order?
This action-thriller is about the FBI investigation into The Silent Brotherhood, also known as The Order, which was a white supremacist group that was inspired to start plotting a war against the U.S. government in the ‘80s.
They were also implicated in the murder of a Jewish man named Alan Berg, a radio talk show host. When the Bureau began to suspect them of conducting robberies to fund their illegal activities, they went after the leader, Bob Mathews. He was put on their radar with the help of an informant, and at one point, escaped the FBI after an agent was wounded in Oregon in November 1984 while attempting to serve him with a warrant.
The Bureau discovered Mathew's whereabouts in December of that year and had a 35-hour standoff with him which ended after he was killed in a house fire on Whidbey Island in Washington.
After the siege ended, the rest of the men inside the gang were eventually charged with multiple offenses, including racketeering, armed robbery, and murder. One individual was given a life sentence for the murder of a state trooper in Missouri.
While many of The Order's members are still imprisoned to this day, some have since been released due to having shorter sentences, and others have died in prison. Some of the main perpetrators will be names featured in the film, including Bruce Pierce and David Lane, a notorious white supremacist who would serve out his sentence for racketeering and other crimes before dying in prison. Both men were involved in Alan Berg’s murder. Sebastian Pigott plays Pierce and Philip Lewitski potrays Lane in the film.
The Order is in theaters now.
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