Jude Law and Nicholas Hoult on making a Nazi film amid the Trump campaign

The stars of The Order are keenly aware that their upcoming thriller, although set in the 1980s, deals with issues that are still relevant today.

The fact-based crime film from director Justin Kurzel is scheduled to hit theaters on December 6th from Vertical after premiering at the Venice Film Festival this summer. Starring Jude Law, Nicholas Hoult, Jurnee Smollett and Tye Sheridan, the film follows an FBI agent (Law) who investigates a white supremacist group called the Order and its possible connection to a series of robberies and other crimes in the Pacific Northwest.

Law, Hoult and Smollett took part in an onstage panel discussion about the project following a screening organized by SAG-AFTRA in Los Angeles on Tuesday. During the chat, Law, who is also a producer, said The Orderdiscussed the contemporary response for the film, which screenwriter Zach Baylin adapted from the 1989 nonfiction book by authors Kevin Flynn and Gary Gerhardt The Silent Brotherhood.

“It was a great script with so much potential: the relevance; the topicality of the topics contained therein; the fact that in many ways it’s strangely kind of the origin of where we are now, which we thought was a good way to explore it without being too heavy-handed,” Law told the crowd. “Then of course it becomes a genre film. And that became clear when we brought our director Justin Kurzel on board. He made it clear that he wanted to lean into the thriller genre and the cat-and-mouse element, but really elevate it through the characters, the truth and the storytelling.”

In fact, the film, being released about a month after the US presidential election, feels particularly timely and comes at a time of increasing debate over the spread of racist views on social media and the support that former President Donald Trump received from neo-Nazis. President receives. Nazis and hate groups. This display coincidentally came days after reports of a Trump-themed boat parade in Florida on Sunday, where boaters displayed swastika flags and cheered on the presidential candidate who will face Vice President Kamala Harris in the election.

“It starts so young, this level of brainwashing, this us-versus-them mentality,” Smollett said of the film, which encourages young people to spread hate. “It starts in infancy, and yes, we can look at where we are now in our country and ask ourselves, ‘How did we get here?’ But unfortunately, it has been ingrained in our fabric since the founding of our nation. It continues because it is a disease that we have not unearthed.”

The actress also noted the lasting influence of the 1978 novel The Turner Diarieswritten under a pseudonym by the leader of a white nationalist group and depicted in the film as being revered by the Order.

“This book was found on the steps of the Capitol on January 6th,” Smollett shared, referencing the 2021 attack on the US Capitol by Trump supporters. “It’s unfortunately quite relevant today.”

Additionally, the cast recalled Kunzel’s memorable tactics to help ratchet up the tension, with Hoult – who portrays Order leader Bob Matthews – explaining that the director discouraged him from meeting Law in person until their first scene together .

“We shot for three, maybe four weeks before that,” Hoult said. “It increased the energy on set where I felt a bit of excitement. The crew loved keeping us apart and everyone said, “Jude goes here.” Keep Nick [away!]“It totally perked me up.”

In his review for The Hollywood Reporterdubbed film critic Jordan Mintzer The Order “a gripping, excellently made historical thriller.” He also wrote: “The Order is the kind of tense reflection of American violence that Hollywood rarely brings to the big screen anymore.”