Venice Film Festival: Justin Kurzel's crime thriller 'The Order' receives nearly 10-minute standing ovation

VENICE: Australian director Justin Kurzel's gripping crime thriller, 'The Order', garnered an impressive nine-minute, 23-second standing ovation during its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival on Thursday evening.

According to Deadline, the applause unfolded at the prestigious Sala Grande, marking a standout moment for the film in this year's festival competition.

The film's stars, including Jude Law, Nicholas Hoult, Tye Sheridan, and Jurnee Smollett, were present at the screening and shared in the celebration, embracing each other amidst the prolonged applause.

Jude Law, in particular, acknowledged the crowd's warm reception by waving to the audience, as the applause crescendoed with each cast member's name appearing in the credits.

According to Deadline, 'The Order' is set against the backdrop of the 1980s Pacific Northwest and delves into a series of bank robberies and car heists that terrorized local communities.

The narrative focuses on a lone FBI agent, portrayed by Law, who suspects that the crimes are linked not to financial gain but to a dangerous domestic terrorist group.

This group, depicted in the film as the white supremacist gang 'The Order,' is led by Hoult's character.

The film is adapted from the 1989 non-fiction book 'The Silent Brotherhood' by Kevin Flynn and Gary Gerhardt. At a press conference held earlier in the day, Hoult revealed that in preparation for their roles as adversaries, he and Law intentionally avoided interaction for the first four weeks of filming, according to Deadline. Law remarked, "Sadly, the relevance speaks for itself. It felt like a piece of work that needed to be made now."

Kurzel echoed this sentiment, stating, "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," according to Deadline.

'The Order' is set for a US release in December through Vertical, with international distribution handled by Amazon Prime Video.