Oscar-winning filmmaker Kathryn Bigelow is back in awards contention with a tense and stressful new Netflix thriller, A House of Dynamite.

The gist of the film is that a single, unattributed missile has been launched at the United States, beginning a race to find out who launched it and how the country should respond. Where a comedy like Dr. Strangelove came out during the Cold War, A House of Dynamite arrives during a time when something like this isn’t entirely impossible with adversaries across the world. It’s also one of the primary reasons why some countries should not have access to nuclear weapons. And I must say, especially after watching this film, Oppenheimer was right. Nuclear power was a mistake.

This is why the film isn’t just in the hunt for Oscar contention. A House of Dynamite is one of the scariest films we’ve seen in years, and it’s not even a film produced by Jason Blum! There might be some moments of comic relief every now and then, but again, this isn’t Dr. Strangelove. Peter Sellers and George C. Scott are not walking through the door. Nobody is going to be fighting in the war room. The film addresses real fears, especially when nine countries have nuclear assets under their belt.

Bigelow’s new film, which features the director’s signature style, is the brainchild of Jackie screenwriter and Zero Day co-creator Noah Oppenheim. Who could have imagined Oppenheim would have two political thrillers launching on Netflix in the same calendar year? The NBC News veteran has really done his research. Yes, A House of Dynamite is dealing with a hypothetical scenario, but it’s still important that everything feel authentic—and that’s exactly what we have here. Key to this authenticity is the high number of acronyms that appear on screen. It’s pertinent to our understanding of the film.

Bigelow has long had a fascination with the military-industrial complex. What sets A House of Dynamite apart from The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty is that it could happen now—at least in America. My Israeli friends and family have spent the better part of two years now constantly running to bomb shelters, sometimes in the middle of the night. What might be “normal” by now is nothing that any American could ever get used to. And with the way the film puts it, there’s no time for evacuating whichever city is about to get hit. Certainly not within an 18-minute window.

The ensemble cast elevates every minute of this against-the-clock thriller as audiences find themselves sitting at the edge of their seats. We’re right there in the room with some of the highest-ranking government officials as they work to confront the threat. This isn’t your ordinary everyday decision-making. Everyone has to make tough decisions within a matter of seconds. Nobody ever wants to be the person who has to make this decision, but there’s no time to spare. And what happens for those who have loved ones living in harm’s way?

But even with an 18-minute window, A House of Dynamite itself runs just shy of two hours. It’s a credit to Oppenheim for choosing to switch our focus from Fort Greely in Alaska and the White House Situation Room to that of Strategic Command (STRATCOM) and the Deputy National Security Advisor, and then finally, the President of the United States (Idris Elba) and Secretary of Defense Reid Baker (Jared Harris). We’re seeing each 18-minute window and then some, starting from the ground up, ultimately working our way up the chain of command to POTUS. Their approach isn’t entirely repetitive even as we’re taking it in through a different perspective.

Rather than film on location, three sets were built to depict the White House Situation Room, STRATCOM, and Fort Greely in Alaska. It was probably easier that they opted to film on sets because this allowed them to get simultaneous footage. It’s amazing to see every little detail come to life, including how those working in the Situation Room have to lock their phones in a lockbox. Imagine knowing the world could end and not being able to call your loved ones! You really feel for Captain Olivia Walker (Rebecca Ferguson), the Senior Officer of the White House Situation Room.

As far as casting goes, it’s not lost on me that Idris Elba has now played POTUS in A House of Dynamite and the British Prime Minister in Heads of State. It speaks to the charisma he commands as an actor. He comes off as someone that you feel you can trust in a leadership position—more so than some of the people who would actually have to make these decisions in real life.

In something that feels straight out of a Sean Baker film, the scenes featuring NSA North Korea expert Ana Park (Greta Lee) were filmed during the 161st Battle of Gettysburg Anniversary reenactment. That they were able to get the footage they needed for A House of Dynamite, with gunfire and cannon fire all around them, is a credit to Bigelow as a filmmaker.

Cinematographer Barry Ackroyd comes from a documentary background, and for A House of Dynamite, they were running four cameras simultaneously. He made sure that the set was lit so actors could walk around freely. It didn’t matter if they hit their marks or didn’t because the handheld camera would capture what they were doing.

I didn’t look at my watch once, and that’s not only a credit to Bigelow, Oppenheim, and the talented cast, but Oscar-winning editor Kirk Baxter. Baxter cuts every frame of A House of Dynamite with the necessary stress and tension it needs to keep audiences at the edge of their seat. Most editors are working on a project from the very beginning, but Baxter didn’t get to work until after production wrapped, meaning he was able to edit the film in story order rather than editing dailies as they were sent in.

The sound design is where things really get fun. Much like a Christopher Nolan film, you don’t know where Volker Bertelmann’s score ends and sound editor Paul Ottosson’s work begins. If you see A House of Dynamite on the big screen, it starts before we see the Netflix logo. I don’t know if this will be replicated in its entirety on the streaming service, but it’s worth it for the big-screen experience alone.

A House of Dynamite is not just a suspenseful thriller—it is an urgent conversation starter. It grips, terrifies, and makes viewers reflect on the reality of nuclear threats and the weight of decisions made in moments of crisis. Kathryn Bigelow, Noah Oppenheim, and company have crafted a film that feels both immediate and authentic, proving that political thrillers can still shock, scare, and resonate deeply with audiences. It is also a real reminder of what we are missing when we do not have actual leaders in key leadership positions and instead have someone intent on starting a civil war.

DIRECTOR: Kathryn Bigelow
SCREENWRITER: Noah Oppenheim
CAST: Idris Elba, Rebecca Ferguson, Gabriel Basso, Jared Harris, Tracy Letts, Anthony Ramos, Moses Ingram, Jonah Hauer-King, with Greta Lee and Jason Clarke, Malachi Beasley, Brian Tee, Brittany O’Grady, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Willa Fitzgerald, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Kyle Allen, Kaitlyn Dever

Netflix will release A House of Dynamite in theaters on October 10, 2025 and streaming on October 24. Grade: 5/5

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