## 'A House Of Dynamite' Review: Kathryn Bigelow's Urgent Warning For Mankind Is So Plausible It Just May Scare You To Death – Venice Film Festival **Report Provider:** Deadline **Author:** Pete Hammond **Publication Date:** September 3, 2025 This review from Deadline discusses Kathryn Bigelow's new film, *A House of Dynamite*, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival. The film is described as a "nail-biting thriller" and an "urgent warning for mankind" due to its plausible depiction of a nuclear crisis. ### Key Findings and Conclusions: * **Frightening Plausibility:** The film's primary impact stems from its terrifyingly plausible scenario of a sole missile launched at the United States, raising questions not of *if* it could happen, but *when*. * **Wake-Up Call:** *A House of Dynamite* is presented as a "wake-up call" to the "normalization" of nuclear war and the increasing "saber rattling" that puts humanity's fate at risk. * **Three-Act Structure:** The movie is divided into three sections, each offering a unique perspective on the unfolding crisis: * **Section 1 (White House Situation Room):** Focuses on the initial discovery of an unexplained missile targeting Chicago, the escalating concern among officials like Maj. Daniel Gonzalez (Anthony Ramos) and Adm. Mark Miller (Jason Clarke), and the efforts of Capt. Olivia Walker (Rebecca Ferguson) to inform the President. * **Section 2 (STRATCOM):** Shifts to the perspective of generals and those on the front lines, including Gen. Anthony Brady (Tracy Letts), who must decide on a response if the missile cannot be intercepted. The section highlights the uncertainty of the attacker (Russia, China, North Korea, or a cyber mistake) and the devastating consequence of inaction: the incineration of 10 million people. * **Section 3 (The President):** Centers on President Idris Elba, who is briefed on the crisis and presented with difficult options by Lt. Cmdr. Robert Reeves (Jonah Hauer-King). The Defense Secretary (Jared Harris), whose daughter is in Chicago, faces pressure as he had been downplaying the event. * **Authenticity and Urgency:** Bigelow, known for her authentic approach to filmmaking, previously directed the nuclear sub thriller *K-19: The Widowmaker*. In *A House of Dynamite*, she conveys a palpable urgency, suggesting the film is more than entertainment but a vital message. * **Cinematic Achievement:** The film is praised for its sharp and crisp visual feel, precise and paced editing by Kirk Baxter, and exceptional sound design by Paul N. J. Ottosson. The ensemble cast, particularly Tracy Letts, is highlighted for their commanding performances. ### Critical Information and Context: * **Director:** Kathryn Bigelow (Oscar-winning director of *The Hurt Locker* and *Zero Dark Thirty*) * **Screenwriter:** Noah Oppenheim (former NBC News president, journalist) * **Premise:** A race against time begins when a sole missile is launched at the United States, with less than **20 minutes** before impact. The film explores the efforts to identify the responsible party and determine a response. * **Target:** Chicago, with an initial uncertainty about the specific target. * **Potential Casualties:** **10 million people** could be incinerated in seconds if the missile hits. * **Themes:** Nuclear war, brinkmanship, plausibility of global catastrophe, the need for global leaders to heed warnings. * **Influences:** The film is compared to Cold War classics like Sidney Lumet's *Fail Safe* and Stanley Kubrick's *Dr. Strangelove: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb*, as well as Stanley Kramer's *On the Beach*. * **Technical Crew:** Barry Ackroyd (DP), Jeremy Hindle (production designer), Kirk Baxter (editor), Paul N. J. Ottosson (sound design). * **Cast:** Idris Elba, Rebecca Ferguson, Gabriel Basso, Jared Harris, Tracy Letts, Anthony Ramos, Moses Ingram, Jonah Hauer-King, Greta Lee, Jason Clarke, Malachi Beasley, Brian Tee, Brittany O’Grady, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Willa Fitzgerald, Renee Elise Goldsberry, Kyle Allen, Kaitlyn Dever. * **Rating:** R * **Running Time:** 1 hour 52 minutes ### Release Details: * **Festival:** Venice Film Festival (Competition) * **Distributor:** Netflix * **Release Dates:** * Friday, October 3 (UK) * Friday, October 10 (global theatrical) * October 24 (streaming) The review concludes with a hopeful sentiment, echoing the message from *On the Beach*: "There is still time brother," and expresses hope that world leaders will listen to the film's urgent warning.
‘A House Of Dynamite’ Review: Kathryn Bigelow’s Urgent Warning For Mankind Is So Plausible It Just May Scare You To Death – Venice Film Festival
Read original at Deadline →Kathryn Bigelow‘s new film A House Of Dynamite might not fall into the horror movie genre, but it might as well because it is more frightening than any of them. The Oscar-winning director and producer of 2008 Best Picture winner The Hurt Locker and 2012 Best Picture nominee Zero Dark Thirty among others is back with with her first feature since Detroit eight years ago, and she hasn’t lost her mojo if this nail-biting thriller is any indication.
The Netflix movie had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival on Tuesday, and let’s just hope the world takes notice because this explosive story is scary in many ways, but mostly because it is so completely plausible in the powder keg of a planet on which we currently exist — so plausible that the question it raises isn’t if it could happen, but rather when.
That is how close mankind might be to blowing itself up if warnings like this exceptionally powerful and brilliantly directed movie’s message isn’t heeded. A House of Dynamite is a wake-up call, a cold shower, a reckoning, and one hell of a motion picture achievement. So what is it about? Watch on Deadline With a script by Noah Oppenheim who comes to movies with a past resume as NBC News president and other real-world journalist credits in addition to his current role as screenwriter-producer, the premise is simple: When a sole missile is launched at the United States, a race against time begins to determine who is responsible and how to respond as the clock is ticking and there are less than 20 minutes before it hits its target.
RELATED: ‘A House Of Dynamite’: What The Critics Are Saying About Kathryn Bigelow’s Nuclear Thriller The film, which does not give you anywhere near that time in which to breathe, is divided into three sections, each offering a unique and different point of view of this event. The first is in the White House Situation Room where business is normal, everyday activities taking place, when this mysterious occurrence starts to get the blood racing and the big screens reveal an unexplained missile seemingly heading for somewhere in the U.
S. Midwest. At first it is not clear just what the target is — possibly Cleveland, possibly another city — but soon it is determined to be aiming straight for Chicago. We start to see the concern of those in the room including Maj. Daniel Gonzalez (Anthony Ramos), who seems disturbed, even as Adm. Mark Miller (Jason Clarke) is a cool head treating it with optimism that it is not as bad as it appears, that all should be fine.
They can just shoot it down and stop its path. Or can they? The key person focused on here is Capt. Olivia Walker (Rebecca Ferguson), who increasingly feels the heat, going higher up the ladder right until she has to get the President on the phone. Things are getting serious, but the unthinkable? The attempt to shoot it down proceeds.
The second part of the movie is set at STRATCOM and the clock is set back to the beginning, this time primarily from the point of view of the generals and those who will be on the front line in determining what action to take if it can’t be shot down, and to quickly determine if it is indeed an enemy attack, But from where?
As time passes, the Russians deny any involvement. Could be it the Chinese? The North Koreans? A cyber mistake? No one knows, but the risk in doing nothing means a guaranteed 10 million people incinerated in seconds once the missile hits Chicago. At the center of this section is Gen. Anthony Brady (Tracy Letts), who is the one who must act on the order of POTUS and choose how to respond, but against who?
If this is a Pearl Harbor-style surprise attack we have to strike back, but it could mean escalating to complete oblivion with the wrong decision. Brody is looking at the clock and urging action to cripple the enemy’s ability to do anything else. The nervous young Deputy National Security Advisor Jake Baerington (Gabriel Basso) is pulled from the car he is in with his wife (Brittany O’Grady) and quickly brought in to deliver an instant assessment.
The third and final part focuses on the President (Idris Elba), who as the clock turns back again is making an appearance at a basketball game. Fun times, until he is urgently ushered out and put back on Marine One helicopter as the events are explained to him, the options he has. POTUS is skeptical and wonders what all this angst coming from the White House and the generals is all about.
He is accompanied by the straightforward Lt. Cmdr. Robert Reeves (Jonah Hauer-King), who is by his side laying out some very difficult options. Meanwhile, the Defense Secretary (Jared Harris) who has been downplaying this event is feeling the pressure, and carries the burden that his daughter (Kaitlyn Dever) is in Chicago.
The three-act structure really pays off here as conversations and characters we see first-hand, are then again heard in later acts through the phone and other methods, and the puzzle of all these players is slowly pieced together. It really is a smart approach, a different take that just realistically shows how this could go.
Bigelow is one for authenticity, and in fact also directed 2002’s nuclear sub thriller, K-19: The Widowmaker, which similarly dealt with a ticking time bomb scenario in its own way. The filmmaker is clearly fascinated with this arena, but with A House of Dynamite you can feel the urgency that she sees this as more than just an entertaining movie, but one that has a purpose to wake up the world to the fact that “normalization” of a nuclear war and increasingly common saber rattling with the fate of us all on the line is something we cannot afford.
In some ways the message here goes back years during the Cold War, when films like Sidney Lumet’s sober Fail Safe and Stanley Kubrick’s satirical Dr. Strangelove: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb came a couple of years after the Cuban Missile Crisis when we were on the brink. Neither had a happy ending.
But maybe I am most reminded of Stanley Kramer’s 1959 On the Beach that ended with the last gasp of humanity in an empty Australian town after the nuclear fallout has passed through. All that is left is a hopeful banner blowing in the wind: “There is still time brother.” For this film, Bigelow has reunited with her Hurt Locker and Detroit DP Barry Ackroyd, and her Zero Dark Thirty production designer Jeremy Hindle for a sharp and crisp visual feel that serves the story without getting in the way of it.
Editor Kirk Baxter’s cutting is precise and paced increasingly as events grow more dire. Paul N. J. Ottosson’s sound design is exceptional, skillfully weaving in all the recurring elements as the film progresses. The ensemble cast is well appointed with Ferguson, Elba, Harris and especially a terrific Letts commanding their screen time.
To say this is an important film for our time is an understatement. Hopefully the current world leaders who have our fate in their hands are listening. “There is still time brother” indeed. Producers are Bigelow, Oppenheim and Greg Shapiro. Title: A House of DynamiteFestival: Venice (Competition)Distributor: NetflixRelease date: Friday, October 3 (UK); Friday, October 10 (global theatrical); October 24 (streaming)Director: Kathryn BigelowScreenwriter: Noah OppenheimCast: Idris Elba, Rebecca Ferguson, Gabriel Basso, Jared Harris, Tracy Letts, Anthony Ramos, Moses Ingram, Jonah Hauer-King, Greta Lee, Jason Clarke, Malachi Beasley, Brian Tee, Brittany O’Grady, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Willa Fitzgerald, Renee Elise Goldsberry, Kyle Allen, Kaitlyn DeverRating: RRunning time: 1 hr 52 mins
