A chilling and exciting true crime drama to see in France on Disney +.
The ways of the thriller are impenetrable. For years we have been waiting for a crime series capable of taking over from True Detective (the original). And there’s clearly something about Marty and Rust about the cops of By order of God. Except for this detail that Under the Banner of Heaven – adaptation of the eponymous book by Jon Krakauer – is based on a true story…
She takes us to Midwestern America, in the early 1980s, to the coast of Utah, the country of the Mormons. It is there, in a small town on the outskirts of Salt Lake City, that the lifeless bodies of Brenda Wright Lafferty and her baby, beheaded, will be found. Who could have committed such an atrocious murder? Inspector Jeb Pyre, himself a devout Mormon practitioner, sets off on the trail of the killer with the help of his Indian partner, Inspector Bill Taba. Between crisis of faith and revelations about the dark secrets of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (that of the Mormons), this investigation promises to be a way of the cross for Jeb…
Oscar-winning screenwriter Milk (in 2008), Dustin Lance Black wrote and directed this uplifting mini-series, which plunges us into a corner of America that seems to live on the fringes of America. Welcome to Utah. Welcome to the Mormon community, where the laws of the Church take precedence over those of Men. More than a moral dilemma, a real conflict of interest for members of law enforcement, most of whom share the same faith. In this surreal and fascinating atmosphere, the investigation follows its course to better reveal a gallery of dubious characters, more or less turned towards a disastrous form of fundamentalism.
First rural thriller with disturbing accents, By order of God slips little by little towards the human, to try to understand how a blind faith can lead to the justification of the worst. The scathing writing of Dustin Lance Black never back down from the darkest and strangest corners of fundamentalism. He who had already been able to grasp with astonishing accuracy the history of LGBT in When We Rise (by Gus Van Sant) frankly recounts that of the Mormon faith and its contradictions, in a thriller that is both raw and empathetic. Whether Andrew Garfield is not always at ease as a devout inspector, his duet with Gil Birmingham (of Twilight) is perfectly complementary and very often recalls that of True Detective. The supporting roles that populate this sordid investigation are in tune, starting with a Sam Worthington (Avatar) unrecognizable, with an explosive animal charisma.
During 7 absolutely fascinating episodes, we explore the life of this community like no other and its horrible excesses. By order of God has also caused controversy in the United States (during its release in the spring), for its acerbic painting of the Mormon church. But the series still has the merit of trying to explain it… even if it is done in a rather strange way, through hyper-didactical flashbacks, which tell the origins of the founder of the order, Joseph Smith ( in 1830). Small, slightly old-fashioned thumbnails, designed like docu-fiction for high school classes, but which are essential to really understand the atmosphere of the series, the organization of the Mormons and the foundations of their unshakeable faith. Such an enigmatic concept today…
On Order of God – mini-series in 7 episodes – to see in France on Disney + from July 27, 2022
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By Order of God, Andrew Garfield does his True Detective (review)