'The Order' brings Whidbey Island’s dark past to the big screen
'The Order' brings Whidbey Island’s dark past to the big screen
A chilling real-life thriller from the Pacific Northwest is now the focus of the new film "The Order," starring Jude Law and Nicholas Hoult. While Hollywood dramatizes some of the events, the true story of domestic terrorism in the region remains even more shocking.
WHIDBEY ISLAND, Wash. - A chilling real-life thriller from the Pacific Northwest is now the focus of the new film "The Order," starring Jude Law and Nicholas Hoult. While Hollywood dramatizes some of the events, the true story of domestic terrorism in the region remains even more shocking.
The movie is inspired by an FBI investigation into an Aryan nation splinter group led by Bob Matthews that carried out heists from California to Seattle, aiming to fund a race war and overthrow the government.
The film about the neo-nazi faction, known as The Order, begins on the Washington-Idaho border and comes to a fiery end in December 1984 on Whidbey Island. Jude Law plays FBI agent Terry Husk, a character based on Special Agent Wayne Manis, who led the investigation.
Manis lives in Idaho and spoke with FOX 13 Seattle. Overall, he was pleased with the film, noting the counterfeiting, robberies, shootouts and schemes depicted in the movie really happened, though some incidents were sensationalized.
Manis shared he came to Whidbey Island four decades ago after trailing Matthews and his crew around for months. According to Manis, the white supremacists were holed up there writing declarations of war and plotting a heist at Brinks Headquarters in San Francisco.
The group was staying at three different homes in the Greenbank community, unbeknownst to many locals. Eventually, the FBI forced the surrender of some of the group, but Matthews, inside a cabin on Smuggler’s Cove Road, refused to give up the fight.
"Suddenly he opened fire in the window directly into my face and bullets were hitting the trees around me," recalled Manis. "We put a flare into the house on the ground floor of the house so we could light it up so we could see. That flare had started a fire and the fire, it burned and burned and burned."
Despite scare tactics and pleas from his cohorts, Matthews remained inside the burning cabin. He died there.
Manis’ daughter, Christa Hazel, was just 10 at the time.
"Dad called to say he’d been in a shootout, and we’d hear about it on the news," she said. Watching the film reminded her of that chaotic time.
Hazel sees parallels between then and now. She believes extremism exists today but looks different, pointing to the rise of online radicalization and rising political tensions.
Manis agreed: "The movie helps us realize how serious domestic terrorism can be."
He hopes the film serves as a reminder and conversation starter.
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