Alex (Ledger) learns of his teacher's recent death and is informed that it is considered rather odd. At the same time, a woman from Alex's past, Mara (Shannyn Sossamon who co-stared with Ledger in A Knight's Tale some two years prior), suddenly shows up at his doorstep. It seems that a while back, Alex performed an exorcism on the young lady, and she fell in love with him. Too bad, the event also put her into a mental hospital, the same hospital she recently escaped from.
Rounding out the reunion cast from A Knight's Tale is Mark Addy. In The Order, Addy plays Thomas, the only other member of Alex's order and the only other person just as intent on uncovering the mystery behind their teacher's death as Alex.
The trio soon learns that their mentor's death was caused by a person known as a Sin Eater (Benno Furmann). The idea behind a Sin Eater is that they will go to people who will not repent, or cannot be accepted into Heaven because of their sins. Just before death, he will unburden their souls and take in their evil deeds, thus damning themselves.
When Alex attempts to report the supernatural presence, he finds out just how badly the Church wants to be rid of this strange off-shoot of man. It seems the ability to enter Heaven without absolution is seen as a direct insult to the Church. Now Alex not only seeks to find and stop the Sin Eater, who goes by the name of William Eden, for his own sake, but also for the Church.
From the moment Alex first confronts Eden, the darker character begins to tempt Ledger's character. At first, he tells him of the good he is doing, and later he shows Alex the ritual itself and eventually he does all he can to push Alex into performing the ritual.
While The Order is very dialogue-heavy, it is also very suspenseful as you try to figure out if Alex will listen to Eden, or if he will follow the Church and kill what is essentially another human, one who has lived for hundreds of years, but a human nonetheless.
There are enough visual effects in The Order to make seeing it on Blu-ray worthwhile, but the okay storyline coupled with very few special features makes this movie a rental at best. In fact, the only extras that The Order comes with is an audio commentary, some deleted scenes and the theatrical trailer. It would have been nice to get a little something extra, maybe interviews with Sossamon and Addy about working with Ledger; that would have been a truly interesting featurette.
