We find ourselves amid the peaks and forests of the Pacific Northwest, where a spate of armed robberies and explosions terrorized the early 1980s. FBI man Terry Husk (Law)’s plans for a quiet transfer are on hold as he investigates with the help of a local deputy (Tye Sheridan).

The trail leads to a white supremacist community and an extremist splinter group led by Bob Mathews (Hoult), a charismatic fundamentalist who wants an army capable of violent insurrection to overthrow the government.

While it’s certainly a throwback offering old-fashioned thrills in a reliable police procedural format, Kurzel’s film, based on the 1989 book, is something special The Silent Brotherhood by Kevin Flynn and Gary Gerhardt – it speaks quietly to the broken America of today. Hoult brings rare humanity to the villain, as does Cork’s Alison Oliver as his wife. Completed.

Four stars