Thursday, July 17, 2025

Film Review: The Order (2024)

Bleak US thrillers set in the contemporary political and social landscape often pleasantly surprised me over the last few years. These can have an implied political message, like The Standoff at Sparrow Creek has, or they can be dealing in direct, borderline activist commentary like How to Blow up a Pipeline. The Order is a lot less willing to dive into the clear politics of the white nationalist movement in the US, but it still packs an engaging punch when it comes to its characters.

In the film, led by Jude Law and Nicholas Hoult, an FBI agent begins to track and gradually dismantle a white supremacist group that is slowly turning into a terrorist army. Based on the notion of The Turner Diaries effects on the angry young men of the inner US, as well as its impact on the hate groups preparing for a race war, the film covers actual events from the 1980s and their deadly impact on numerous families and individuals.

Justin Kurzel, who directed the film, allowed much of the story to take shape through its main characters, played by Law and Hoult, who act as the main driving forces, but on opposite sides. Here, Law in particular managed to create a transfixing character as the rundown, tired, but endlessly determined Agent Husk. That, along with a tense, minimalistic cinematography, produced a fantastic and very balanced thriller, which doesn't lose any steam towards the end. Ultimately, despite its hands-off approach to modern politics, The Order's story is still very much relevant for the contemporary US political landscape. 

Thursday, July 3, 2025

Predator: Killer of Killers

Intensity and energy are the main hallmarks of Predator: Killer of Killers. These elements shine through from the first moment and keep up relentlessly throughout the film. That's not an easy feat in any genre, let alone feature-length animated movies. It is also important to note that the director, Dan Trachtenberg, who previously made, among other things, 10 Cloverfield Lane, has diverse experience working on atypical projects. That helped him to keep both going even though the majority of the film's storyline is broken into three separate vignettes. 

Each of these covers a different warrior on Earth, each in its period. That includes a Viking clash, a violent political turmoil in feudal Japan, and finally the Pacific theatre of WW2. In each, a predator seeks to find the strongest prey, take it down, and become the killer of killers. At the same time, the clueless humans hang desperately to nothing more than the raw desire to survive. 

The vignettes come together in the crescendo of the film, erupting in even more action and bloodshed. But, these work together perfectly with rough but still defined characters, each from a different era and culture. Through a well-chosen style of animation, the desperate humans, just like the unwavering predators, managed to offer one of the best films in this franchise. Simply put, Predator: Killer of Killers is truly a killer movie (I had to go there).