Australian filmmaker Justin Kurzel‘s crime thriller The Order made its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival this evening, with the Sala Grande audience giving the competition title a nine-minute, 23-second ovation.
Kurzel, along with The Order stars Jude Law, Nicholas Hoult, Tye Sheridan and Jurnee Smollett were all in attendance, hugging each other in the gallery during the rapturous applause as Law waved to the audience. The applause started tame before the credits even began rolling but grew as each cast member’s name appeared.
The Order charts how a series of bank robberies and car heists frightened communities in the Pacific Northwest during the 1980s. It alights on a lone FBI agent (Law) who believes that the crimes were not the work of financially motivated criminals, but rather a group of dangerous domestic terrorists, namely the white supremacist gang known as “The Order” (led in the film by Hoult). The story explores the ensuing battle between law enforcement and the far-right group. It’s based on the 1989 non-fiction book The Silent Brotherhood by Kevin Flynn and Gary Gerhardt.
At a press conference earlier today, Hoult explained that he and Law – who are adversaries in the film – didn’t speak or interact with each other for the first four weeks of filming in a bid to build distance between them. He was also tasked by director Kurzel to trail Law for a day without his fellow actor knowing.
Watch on Deadline
The team was queried about the film’s relevance to the the divided political landscape in the U.S. today, to which Law responded, “Sadly, the relevance speaks for itself. It felt like a piece of work that needed to be made now.”
Kurzel added, “I think we live at a time now that was reflected in the film, where there is division, and there’s a lot of conversation about the future and about ideologies. The film was about an ideology that’s incredibly dangerous and how it can quickly take seed… I think that’s a timeless thing, not only in America, but in Australia too.”
Vertical will release The Order in the U.S. in December, while Amazon Prime Video will distribute in multiple international markets.
The post ‘The Order’ Crime Thriller Banks Nearly 10-Minute Ovation At Venice Film Festival appeared first on Deadline.
