Title – A House of Dynamite (2025)
Director – Kathryn Bigelow (A Hurt Locker)
Cast – Idris Elba, Rebecca Ferguson, Jared Harris, Anthony Ramos, Jason Clarke, Greta Lee
Plot – When a single unidentifiable missile is launched with predictions it’s going to make contact with the mainland USA, a group of government officials scramble to uncover the best course of action and how to respond.
“This is what we get for fifty billion dollars?”
Review by Eddie on 31/10/2025
Returning for her first feature film since 2017’s mildly disappointing commercial failure Detroit, that had the unenviable task of follow on in the footsteps of her two previous films The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty, Oscar winning filmmaker Kathryn Bigelow is back with another American thriller in the form of the Netflix released A House of Dynamite.
A collaboration with The Maze Runner and Jackie scribe Noah Oppenheim, Dynamite allows Bigelow to shine a light on the very real and scary proposition the world faces when a nuclear attack is instigated seemingly out of the blue with her topical and relevant white knuckle thriller exploring how the White House could/would react if they only had mere minutes to try and stop and understand an attack of this magnitude on their home soil.
Wasting little time or backstory space before thrusting its characters and us the audience right into the thick of it as a collection of various players including Rebecca Ferguson’s security expert Captain Olivia Walker, Edris Elba’s president elect, Jared Harris’s Secretary of Defence Reid Baker and Anthony Ramos’s Major Daniel Gonzalez get caught up in what looks like an unexpected missile attack directed for Chicago, Dynamite is a pulse pounding thriller that starts with a bang but in its decision to split up its story into three key segments all dealing with the same issue at the same time, momentum and engagement does begin to wane.
It’s clear to see what Bigelow and Oppenheim were trying to do here and the pairs opening segment focussed in on Ferguson and her team in the control room of the White House coming to terms with what looks to be happening is some of the year’s most impressively constructed filmmaking but by starting with such a rush of adrenaline and intrigue Dynamite sets the bar to a level it isn’t able to sustain and as we begin to cover the same ground multiple times the horror and interest that is initially there does falter.
As an American thriller that refuses to pull its punches however Dynamite is still a powerful and even unexpected offering.
Many films of this ilk would much rather shy away from the harsh cold realities of situations that are plausible within this space, but Bigelow doesn’t dare do this and she sets out to cause discussion and even change in this area of national and global security that appears to be teetering on a knifes edge at any given moment.
Entertaining no doubt, there’s a deeper level to Dynamite that is sure to create many emotions from its viewers and had it been able to connect us more with its A-list ensemble of characters and allowed itself to not repeat the same narrative segments, Dynamite might just have been another of Bigelow’s big awards hitters.
Final Say –
Appearing early on to be one of the year’s finest Hollywood releases, A House of Dynamite does lose steam along its way but is still a top-notch thriller that isn’t afraid to paint a picture of a reality many would care to ignore.
3 1/2 nosey technicians out of 5
Jordan and Eddie (The Movie Guys) 
“but in its decision to split up its story into three key segments all dealing with the same issue at the same time, momentum and engagement does begin to wane.”
— I like that you pointed out that this narrative and structural decision has this effect. It didn’t for me, but until I thought about it while reading your review, I wouldn’t have considered the loss of momentum.
I also wanted to know more about the FEMA employee who was chosen to relocate to a bunker. What was her day like before she got to work?
It felt like the movie was really close to unlocking something really great but the lack of character development or backstory held it back from that point I feel.
Even like you said that one FEMA employee felt almost pointless to the plot in the end without that added layer of depth or understanding.
E
Interesting and a good review. I’ve read it is a solid movie but it being split up really does it a lot of harm. But sounds good enough to check out. Thanks for the insightful review.
It really starts off with a bang here but I did find it started to lose big amounts of tension and intrigue as it went on. Still a very interesting and topical thriller overall.
E
I really appreciate your critical approach to this three-part division of the event. It’s true that the tension wanes at the start of the second act, but not entirely, in my opinion. Bigelow leaves the question addressed to the president unanswered. She also has the intelligence to keep this character in the dark for the first two-thirds of the film. We then wonder who the decision rests on. What kind of man is he? The ironic images of a golf course lead us to suspect the worst before defusing that possibility. I think it’s a billiant idea. As is the way the tension is released after the first act. Because isn’t it the same in reality? Haven’t we ourselves become numb to this threat by refusing to admit that we’ve been living in this “House of Dynamite” for decades ? The film has, among other qualities, this ability to revive our senses. And for that, thank you, Kathryn.
It certainly is a film people should watch, if least to be reminded of the world in which we find ourselves in. Sadly many would think this is all far-fetched.
E
It’s propaganda to bomb North Korea. The annoying fractured timeline is the magician distracting you while she pulls off her illusion. The real point of the movie is the fact the the country that sent the missile is not identified. Thus, America against the world. Anybody could attack us. But then Bigelow stacks the deck to blame North Korea. There’s even a Korean woman at a Gettysburg reenactment.
I did find the fractured storytelling quite annoying here. At the start I thought it could have worked but telling the same story over and over in this fashion took some tension away.
E
But the fact that nobody ever figured out who sent the missile flew right under the radar.
In Dr. Strangelove it’s American militarists.
In Fail Safe it’s rogue AI.
In War Games it’s Rogue AI.
In A House of Dynamite it’s “one of those bad countries out there where people hate Americans.”
We’re back in 2003. The USA against the world.
Americans painting themselves as victimizers instead of the oppressors (which we are).
The American government is presented as a multicultural ideal, a little UN of “concerned” looking people all working for a black President.
This is a fascist movie wearing a liberal skin suit. Don’t be fooled by it.