RottenTomatoes.com
Log In | Register | What is RT?
Found a Bug? Squash It! Report Bugs Here
  • Home
  • Movies
  • DVD
  • Celebrities
  • News
  • Critics
  • Trailers & Pictures
  • CommunityBeta
  • Box Office
  • | Best Of
  • | Certified Fresh
  • | Showtimes
RT Search Powered by Google
help icon Enhanced RT
searches on Google
Click here to turn on enhanced search results from RT on your Google searches.
 
Movies / On DVD / The Order
The Order

Rate this Movie Help Icon

  • Write a Review
  • Read Reviews
  • Add to List
  • Buy Poster External Icon
  • Visit Official Site External Icon
Bookmark and Share

The Order (2003)

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
9 %
Tomatometer
Template ImageTemplate Image

How does the Tomatometer work Help Icon

Reviews Counted:56

Fresh:5

Rotten:51

Average Rating:2.9/10

Consensus: A religious thriller that's more lethargic and silly than thrilling.

Runtime: 1 hr 45 mins

Genre: Horror/Suspense

Synopsis: For centuries, a secret Order has existed within the Church. Following a series of unexplained murders, a renegade priest (Heath Ledger) begins an investigation that hurls him into a maelstrom of... For centuries, a secret Order has existed within the Church. Following a series of unexplained murders, a renegade priest (Heath Ledger) begins an investigation that hurls him into a maelstrom of unimaginable evil, murder and the knowledge that there is a fate worse than death.

The priest's search takes him to The Sin Eater – a key figure in this mysterious and ancient Order. The immortal Sin Eater's role is nothing less than playing God on earth by absolving the unforgivable of their sins outside the Church, allowing great evil to go unpunished. Burdened with centuries of evil, The Sin Eater craves the luxury of death. But who will eat his sins and grant eternal peace? Who will carry on his dark tradition and continue the work of the Order? As the young priest uncovers the answers and pursues these paragons of evil, he fights to save his own soul and that of the woman he loves.

Twentieth Century Fox presents a Baumgarten Merims production, THE ORDER. The film is written, produced and directed by Academy Award® winner Brian Helgeland, and produced by Craig Baumgarten. Heath Ledger, Shannyn Sossamon, Mark Addy, Benno Fürmann, and Peter Weller star in the film. -- © 20th Century Fox [More]

Starring: Heath Ledger, Shannyn Sossamon, Mark Addy, Benno Furmann

Starring: Heath Ledger, Shannyn Sossamon, Mark Addy, Benno Furmann, Peter Weller

Director: Brian Helgeland

Director: Brian Helgeland
Screenwriter: Brian Helgeland
Producer: Brian Helgeland, Craig Baumgarten
Composer: David Torn
Studio: 20th Century Fox

[See More Credits]

  • Trailers
  • Pictures
1 - 5 of 13

See More Movie Trailers & Pictures

Reviews for The Order

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

"The Order" is a halfhearted "supernatural thriller"%u2014interpret as not an actual "horror" movie...

Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com | comment Comment
06/12/09
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

It's long on atmosphere and whispered moments of creepy discovery.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
05/07/09
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

Devout Catholics will be appalled; everyone else will be asleep.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
02/28/07
J. R. Jones
J. R. Jones
Chicago Reader

This has to be one of the most inconsequential films dealing with religion ever made.

Full Review Source: FromTheBalcony | comment Comment
06/26/05
Bill Clark
Bill Clark
FromTheBalcony

... it has a curious disorder, one that makes it both interesting and pallid.

Full Review Source: Tyler Morning Telegraph (Texas) | comment Comment
09/20/04
Mark Collette
Mark Collette
Tyler Morning Telegraph (Texas)

It's preposterous, silly rather than frightening, and the performances and characterizations have a pot-boiler feel.

Full Review Source: F5 (Wichita, KS) | comment Comment
03/19/04
Jake Euker
Jake Euker
F5 (Wichita, KS)

Frequently descends into unintentional hilarity, nervous camp, and eventually exasperation.

Full Review Source: Film Freak Central | comment Comment
02/24/04
Walter Chaw
Walter Chaw
Film Freak Central

As the movie’s promotion intimates, ‘There is a fate worse than death,’ and you got it – it’s sitting through this movie.

Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | comment Comment
02/09/04
Kurt Dahlke
Kurt Dahlke
Apollo Guide

My dear Brian Helgeland, lack of originality is a sin. Eat it.

Full Review Source: Mixed Reviews | comment Comment
02/06/04
Martin Scribbs
Martin Scribbs
Mixed Reviews

A miserably dark and sluggish picture to endure. Helgeland and his stars have hopefully observed last rites on this and moved on to bigger and (especially) better things.

Full Review Source: FilmStew.com | comment Comment
12/15/03
Todd Gilchrist
Todd Gilchrist
FilmStew.com

...the movie makes little sense even for a guy more than willing to suspend his disbelief, as I was.

Full Review Source: DVDTown.com | comment Comment
12/05/03
John J. Puccio
John J. Puccio
DVDTown.com

Blood in. Blood out. Eye roll.

Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | comment Comment
11/25/03
Ed Gonzalez
Ed Gonzalez
Slant Magazine

From the casting to the plot to the monologues that come off sounding like SNL jokes, everything here is just plain sloppy.

Full Review Source: E! Online | comment Comment
09/11/03
E! Online

The film’s failed gothic look is just ugly, so forcibly dank that important details, like which characters are in a certain scene, sometimes get lost.

Full Review Source: Coast (Halifax, Nova Scotia) | comment Comment
09/11/03
Mark Palermo
Mark Palermo
Coast (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

In what church is Heath Ledger a priest? And who are the nuns - Heather Graham and Tara Reid?

Full Review Source: Aisle Seat | comment Comment
09/11/03
Mike McGranaghan
Mike McGranaghan
Aisle Seat

All the fine cinematography can't hide the sad fact that the second half of the film delivers none of the shocks and starts required of atmospheric horror.

Full Review Source: L.A. Weekly | comment Comment
09/11/03
Jon Strickland
Jon Strickland
L.A. Weekly

The Order is scuzzy and lazy, such a muddle that no one really need be offended. Actually, no one need even bother with it all. That’s why I’m being paid in this space, to spare you the temptation.

Full Review Source: State Journal-Register (Springfield, IL) | comment Comment
09/11/03
Paul Povse
Paul Povse
State Journal-Register (Springfield, IL)

Most bad horror movies at least offer the compensation of being unconsciously funny. The Order just makes you wish you were unconscious.

Full Review Source: Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) | comment Comment
09/11/03
Ken Hanke
Ken Hanke
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

The ABC's of the plot are nearly mystifying, and once you have everything figured out you'll realize that the end result was hardly worth all the effort.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
09/11/03
Scott Weinberg
Scott Weinberg
eFilmCritic.com

There are scenes where you think the bulb has gone out in the projector.

Full Review Source: Mark Reviews Movies | comment Comment
09/10/03
Mark Dujsik
Mark Dujsik
Mark Reviews Movies
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 >> >|
all

Latest News for The Order

March 16, 2007: "Premonition" Makes RT's "Worst of the Worst"
We all know good movies are hard to make, so you kinda feel bad when so many fail their lofty goals. Such is the case with this week's "Premonition," which not only... More...

See All

More DVDs

Top Rentals
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
14% 14% The Ugly Truth
98% 98% Up
36% 36% G.I. Joe: The Rise of …
52% 52% The Taking of Pelham 1…
45% 45% Ice Age: Dawn of the D…

More Rentals…

New On DVD This Week
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
32% 32% Terminator Salvation
44% 44% Night at the Museum: B…
86% 86% A Christmas Tale
60% 60% Paper Heart

More New Releases…

What’s Hot On RT

Twilight Saga: Eclipse

Twilight Saga: Eclipse

5 facts straight from the cast.

Disney Animation

Disney Animation

We chart the studio's classics.

Avatar

Avatar

An exclusive look at the human hardware.

Eric Bana

Eric Bana

The Star Trek star talks cars with RT.

Other News

  • Top Stories
  • Popular
  • Interviews
 
 

Comments

 
 
Top Stories
Headlines Comments
  
  • No Hobbit Until 2012? Source: The Wrap
10
  • Don't Hold Your Breath for Hancock 2 Source: HitFix
22
  • Peter Berg Talks Battleship Source: CHUD
1
  • Summit Ponders Twilight Finale Source: Variety
135
  • First Look at Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Source: USA Today
44
  • Jeremy Renner Talks Hawkeye Possibilities Source: Superhero Hype
14
  • Todd Phillips Talks The Hangover 2 Source: Entertainment Weekly
18
  • Tron Legacy Duo Heading into The Black Hole Source: Hollywood Reporter
9
  • First Iron Man 2 Poster Released Source: Yahoo! Movies
80
  • Ryan Reynolds Talks Green Lantern Source: MTV
16
Popular
Headlines Comments
  
  • Ban Them All! 10 Infamously Controversial Movies
99
  • Friday Harvest: The Road, Avatar, and more!
96
  • 5 Facts About The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
91
  • Box Office Guru Wrapup: Vampires and Football Break Thanksgiving Records
36
  • Total Recall: Natalie Portman's Best Movies
33
  • Weekly Ketchup: Zombieland 2 in 3D?
28
  • Five Favorite Films with Jesse Ventura
25
  • RT on DVD & Blu-Ray: Terminator Salvation and a Smithsonian Battle
20
  • Duncan Jones Reteams With Kevin Spacey
5
Interviews
Headlines Comments
  
  • "I Don't Hate Women": Lars von Trier on Antichrist
17
  • Eric Bana talks Love the Beast - RT Interview
11
  • Fight Club Sound Designer Reflects on Film's 10th Anniversary
21
  • James Schamus talks Taking Woodstock - RT Interview
8
  • John Hurt Talks Harry Potter, Quentin Crisp and Alien - The RT Interview
15
  • Terry Gilliam Talks Doctor Parnassus
22
  • Wes Anderson Talks Fantastic Mr. Fox - RT Interview
9
  • Wolverine Creator Len Wein Talks About the Film
28
  • Gavin Hood Talks Wolverine; Possible Sequel
28
  • Duncan Jones talks Moon, Sam Rockwell, and Mute
14
 
 

Sponsored Links

Around The Network

  • The Order at Rotten Tomatoes
  • The Order at IGN
  • The Order at AskMen

Fresh Links

Featured
RT on YouTube
RT on YouTube External Link

Subscribe to RT's YouTube channel and don't miss a second of our cracking video content.

RT on Twitter
RT on Twitter External Link

Follow Rotten Tomatoes and join us as we tweet about the week's releases.

 
 
About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Celebs List| Newsletter
IGN Logo

IGN.com | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | GameSpy Technology
TeamXbox | Planets | Vaults | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | Direct2Drive | Green Pixels


By continuing past this page, and by the continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
Copyright 1998-2009, IGN Entertainment, Inc. About IGN | Support | Advertise | Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! IGN RSS Feeds
IGN's enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA
Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.