Oscar winner Kathryn Bigelow’s first feature since Detroit, her 2017 drama, A House of Dynamite is an alarmingly sobering apocalyptic political thriller written by Noah Oppenheim.
The film boasts an impressive ensemble cast led by Idris Elba (as the the US President), Rebecca Ferguson, Gabriel Basso, Jared Harris, and Tracy Letts.
Grade: B (*** out of *****)
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The film shows the perspectives of different government and military officials after an unknown adversary launches a single ballistic missile at Chicago.
Defying chronological order, the movie shows the same sequence three times from different perspectives, with each section introduced by a separate title.
One day in Washington, D.C., Capt. Olivia Walker, the oversight officer for the White House Situation Room, is informed of several geopolitical developments: an imminent exercise by the PLA, suspicious chatter between Iran and its proxies, and silence from North Korea after recent ballistic missile test.
The Pacific-based SBX-1 early-warning radar detects an unidentified ICBM launch; surprisingly, the missile is not detected at launch, but mid-flight over the Northwest Pacific. Initially presumed to be a routine Korean test, the situation changes when the ICBM enters low orbit, with Chicago as a target within the next 20 minutes.
A video conference is initiated between the Situation Room, the Pentagon, and armed forces, and alertness is raised to DEFCON 2. NORTHCOM directs units under Maj. Daniel Gonzalez at Alaska’s Fort Greely to launch two ground-based interceptors (GBI). The first GBI fails to deploy, while the second misses impact with the ICBM.
Secretary of Defense Reid Baker initiates the government’s continuity of protocol, resulting in designated federal employees, including FEMA official Cathy Rogers, being evacuated. Deputy National Security Advisor Jake Baerington advises the President to not retaliate until the missile’s origin is confirmed. With impact only a few minutes away, Walker warns her family to leave the D.C. area.
In Nebraska, STRATCOM commander Gen. Anthony Brady is informed of the launch, and joins the conference call while B-2 bombers under INDOPACOM are prepared for possible retaliation. Observing that China, Russia and Iran have mobilized their forces, Brady presents the President with the OPLAN 8010 and immediate retaliation.
Baerington speaks with Russia’s foreign minister, who denies that they and China launched the missile, but threatens retaliation should Russia be targeted. Baerington attempts to convince him to stand down all Russian military assets in goodwill. With the ICBM nearing Chicago, the President confirms his nuclear command authority with Brady through the biscuit, who advises him to consult with his nuclear aide, Lt Cdr. Robert Reeves, regarding retaliation options.
Reeves accompanies the President to a basketball event, where they are informed of the unfolding crisis; the President is evacuated by the Secret Service, while Baker unsuccessfully attempts to evacuate his estranged daughter from Chicago. The President is uncertain of Baerington’s idea of non-retaliation, considering it a surrender, but cannot bring himself to retaliate.
The President learns of the GBI’s failure to intercept and is airlifted by Marine One to an undisclosed location. He confirms his nuclear authority with Brady, confers with Reeves regarding strike options. While being evacuated, Baker instead commits suicide by jumping from the rooftop helipad.
The President discusses with Reeves the nuclear proliferation, comparing it to living in “a house of dynamite.” He is divided between Baerington’s advice against retaliation and Brady’s advice supporting it. Reeves presents the President with two major retaliation options from the OPLAN.
However, the President’s final decision is not shown, which might frustrate viewers expectations.
Playing out a nightmare scenario, albeit one with inconsistent plausibility, A House of Dynamite is an urgent, masterfully-crafted thriller, one that’s as scary and distressing as a horror picture (which, generically, it is not).
The film world premiered in the main competition of the 2025 Venice Film Fest before streamih on Netflix.
The sets of the telecommunications that would ensue in case of nuclear threat were praised by some as accurate. However, the central premise was deemed unlikely; a nuclear attack would involve many missiles instead of single missile, and use of nuclear missiles is likely to erupt from conventional conflict instead of “out of the blue,” as the film shows.
It is also improbable that the leadership would be pressured to respond to a nuclear attack before the first strike arrives, instead relying on second strike capabilities.
Experts were also divided over the film’s depiction of U.S. missile defenses. The film has drawn criticism from the U.S. Department of Defense and the subordinate agency responsible for the U.S. missile defense system, the Missile Defense Agency, for misstating the reliability of the Ground Based Interceptor (GBI) system, which has an officially recorded 100% percent success rate of interception, versus 61% depicted in the film.
In his response, scribe Oppenheim claimed that the 100% rate quoted was only for certain recent tests, while the overall success rate of the 20 tests conducted since the system was introduced in 1999, is 57%, slightly lower than that portrayed in the film.
Cast
Idris Elba as the President
Rebecca Ferguson as Captain Olivia Walker, officer White House Situation Room
Gabriel Basso as Deputy National Security Advisor Jake Baerington
Jared Harris as Secretary of Defense Reid Baker
Tracy Letts as General Anthony Brady, commander of US Strategic Command
Anthony Ramos as Major Daniel Gonzalez, commander of Fort Greely, Alaska
Moses Ingram as Cathy Rogers, FEMA officer, National Continuity Programs
Jonah Hauer-King, Lieutenant Commander Robert Reeves, Military Aide
Greta Lee as Ana Park, National Intelligence Officer for North Korea
Jason Clarke as Admiral Mark Miller, Director of White House Situation Room
Malachi Beasley as SCPO William Davis, Walker’s colleague in Situation Room
Brian Tee as SAIC Ken Cho, head of US Secret Service
Brittany O’Grady as Lily Baerington, Jake’s pregnant wife and Senatorial aide
Gbenga Akinnagbe as Major General Steven Kyle, Global Operations Director
Willa Fitzgerald as Abby Jansing, CNN rep at the White House Briefing Room
Renée Elise Goldsberry as the First Lady of the US
Kyle Allen as Captain Jon Zimmer, B-2 bomber pilot
Kaitlyn Dever as Caroline Baker, Baker’s daughter
Francesca Carpanini as Staff Sergeant Ali Jones, a soldier at Fort Greely
Abubakr Ali as Lieutenant Dan Buck, a soldier at Fort Greely
Credits:
Directed by Kathryn Bigelow
Written by Noah Oppenheim
Produced by Greg Shapiro, Bigelow, Oppenheim
Cinematography Barry Ackroyd
Edited by Kirk Baxter
Music by Volker Bertelmann
Production: First Light, Prologue Entertainment, Kingsgate Films
Distributed by Netflix
Release date: Sept 2, 2025 (Venice); Oct 10, 2025 (US)
Running time: 112 minutes
