NETFLIX Review: 'A House of Dynamite' a slow-burning thriller that ignites our deepest fears

Netflix, 2025.

Director Kathryn Bigelow ("The Hurt Locker," "Detroit," "Zero Dark Thirty") is a true master of immersive, high-tension realism. The stakes have never been higher in her newest film, the harrowing "A House of Dynamite," a control room thriller that examines what it may look like if the United States was on the brink of an actual nuclear holocaust.

Grade: B

Much of the film is made ambiguous, by design. A rogue nuclear missile is launched directly at the center of the United States, and we have under 20 minutes to determine who launched it, from where, and what to do next. The story unfolds in real-time, then resets twice to retell the buildup to the looming catastrophe from three separate levels of government response.

On the ground at an outpost in Alaska, Major Daniel Gonzalez (Anthony Ramos) and his small team detect the incoming threat, but are unsure of its origins or its trajectory. They've trained for this, but this time it's for real. Major Gonzalez must also deploy and hopefully intercept the threat before it's too late.

In the White House Situation Room, Captain Olivia Walker (Rebecca Ferguson) oversees coordination with field units like Gonzalez's team, interprets conflicting intelligence, and serves as liaison to the President. If the intercepts fail, should the U.S. ready-up for a counter-strike? If so, against whom? She doesn't have all the facts, but must process the impossible question of what is in the best interest not just of the country, but of all humanity.

Higher up the chain, we meet General Brady (Tracy Letts), a senior military officer who pushes for a decisive military response. Meanwhile, Secretary of Defense Reid Baker (Jared Harris) is not only bracing for the potential immense loss of life, but with the realization that the missile may hit Chicago, the exact location of his adult daughter. We then get a glimpse at our Commander-in-Chief, an unnamed President (Idris Elba), who literally and figuratively has the weight of the world on his shoulders. We don't know who or why this missile was launched, and experts say that there is also a percentage chance that the missile might be a dud. The terrifying possibility of a mistaken counter-attack underscores every decision he faces.

The film does a tremendous job of building tension, and also showing the mundaneness of the job that sets in when 99.9% percent of the time, nothing is happening. General Brady is still thinking about last night's baseball game, Captain Walker is dealing with her family life, and even the POTUS is enjoying a short break on the phone with his wife, who is on an African safari. Bigelow masterfully contrasts the ordinary with the unthinkable, reminding us that we live in a house of dynamite, where one stray spark could end everything.

However, "A House of Dynamite" is undercut by the very plot structure that it relies on. By "resetting" the story every so often, it interrupts the intensity of the moment. Emotionally, the new perspectives don't offer us much more than what we were already dealing with. It ends up feeling like this might have made for a great 20-minute short film, but that we are needlessly manipulated by having things stretched out over two hours. When it finally reaches its ambiguous conclusion, the restraint feels less thought-provoking than unsatisfying. With such monumental stakes, audiences may crave clarity rather than conjecture about what might truly happen in such a scenario.

"A House of Dynamite" is explosive, well-acted and definitely worth the watch. It just may leave viewers a bit more frustrated than fulfilled. 

Grade: B

Genre: Drama, Thriller.
Run Time: 1 hour 52 minutes.
Rated R.

Starring: Rebecca Ferguson, Anthony Ramos, Idris Elba, Tracy Letts, Jason Clarke, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Kaitlyn Devers.

Directed by Kathryn Bigelow ("Detroit," "Zero Dark Thirty," "The Hurt Locker").

"A House of Dynamite" is in limited theatrical release on October 10th, 2025 and available for streaming on Netflix on October 24th, 2025.