A House of Dynamite, 2025.
Written and Directed by Kathryn Bigelow.
Starring Idris Elba, Rebecca Ferguson, Gabriel Basso, Jared Harris, Tracy Letts, Anthony Ramos, Moses Ingram, Greta Lee, Jonah Hauer-King, Jason Clarke, Willa Fitzgerald, Malachi Beasley, Aminah Nieves, Brian Tee, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Kyle Allen, Catherine Missal, Neal Bledsoe, Maria Jung, Quincy Dunn-Baker, Lynn Adrianna, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Kaitlyn Dever, Angel Reese, and Brittany O’Grady.
SYNOPSIS:
When a single, unattributed missile is launched at the United States, a race begins to determine who is responsible and how to respond.
Told from three distinct perspectives across various communications centers and branches of the US government, writer/director Kathryn Bigelow’s A House of Dynamite is an intense hypothetical on how a surefire nuclear attack on a major city would be handled. With reminders of how, post-Cold War, nations agreed the world would be better off if countries didn’t have nuclear warheads, and brief glimpses of a Gettysburg reenactment, it also serves to juxtapose what war used to look like and how it has evolved.
As much as it is still about sending young men off to their deaths in battle with firearms and a focus on field strategy, now, nearly everyone has nukes that could be detonated at a moments notice for seemingly any reason; perhaps someone’s significant other left them and they snapped, maybe it’s a calculated attack to turn nations against one another, or, most alarmingly, it’s possible AI feature bugged out and launched a missile that it shouldn’t have.
And while information is revealed, such as which city is being targeted and who the instigators could be, it behooves one not to get too caught up in fixating on the plot and answers, but rather to have a gripping, seemingly authentic fly-on-the-wall look at this stressful process. Even when the characters are constantly speaking in militaristic and government jargon (with a new location graphic or the words behind an acronym explained every ten minutes), it always remains clear what these various high-ranking government workers are trying to accomplish.
It is also smartly concerned with giving each of them small moments to make an offhand remark about something unrelated, whether it be their personal lives or sports, not as a means to build stakes through clichés but to illuminate their humanity and how their relationships with those closest (or estranged) serve as a guiding light on what to do under unthinkable circumstances. This could have easily been a shortcut for cheap, emotional manipulation, but instead, it serves to expand upon these characters beyond their rankings.
Further elevating this is a stacked cast, ranging from Rebecca Ferguson, who anchors the first chapter as Captain Olivia Walker, to Tracy Letts, who takes over the middle act as General Anthony Brody. Finally, a look at POTUS reacting to information coming into his ears from all directions while contemplating what actions to take if the government can’t stop this nuke and it does level an entire city.
It also bears mentioning that while A House of Dynamite takes place in the real world (with references to actual current events and cameos from a celebrity in WNBA star Angel Reese), the orange psycho is not the president here, but rather gifted actor Idris Elba, who bears the weight of the country on his shoulders. Admittedly, it comes across as a copout to not acknowledge how unhinged America’s leadership has become by depicting the country as respectable, let alone writing the current president out of existence (oh, how I’m sure many of us wish we could do that), but sadly, the movie wouldn’t work with an indecent leader such as him, although there would be, somehow, an even more horrifying watch.
A House of Dynamite is a film that delves into the nitty-gritty of modern-day nuclear warfare with surprising ease of accessibility, despite all the previously mentioned technical speak. What helps is that each act reverts to the beginning of the story, focusing on a new branch of government and new characters, taking viewers back through the key beats from alternate points of view that gradually offer more insight (with tight, precise anything from Kirk Baxter). Every step of the way, there is a pulse-pounding score by Volker Bertelmann, elevating the escalating intensity brought to life by a fantastic ensemble overflowing with noteworthy names (big names are popping up for one scene here).
As said before, there isn’t much resolution here or a traditionally rewarding conclusion, but that’s also not the point; A House of Dynamite is out to strike fear regarding the excessive hoarding of nuclear warheads and the horrifying realities of what could come in the near future. Putting that into perspective with who America’s current president is only makes this a hell of a lot more terrifying.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Robert Kojder
