There are plenty of upcoming horror movies hitting the 2025 movie calendar as Halloween approaches, but A House of Dynamite is horrifying in a whole different way. It’s not ghosts or murderers or bumps in the night that threaten the protagonists in this apocalyptic political thriller, but a nuclear missile. Critics have seen the movie as it makes its premiere on the Netflix schedule, so should we be adding this to our watch lists?
A House of Dynamite features an ensemble cast led by Idris Elba as the president of the United States and is directed by Academy Award winner Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker, Zero Dark Thirty). The film follows the response of the U.S. government when faced with an impending nuclear strike from an unknown enemy, and Dana Stevens of Slate calls it both “an ingenious puzzle box” and a nail-biting cautionary tale. The critic says:
A House of Dynamite’s status as a cautionary tale also places it in the tradition of Cold War–era dramas like Fail Safe and The Day After, films that tried to look the reality of mutual assured destruction in the face without offering the terrified viewer much by way of comfort or catharsis. Like them, A House of Dynamite is a feel-bad movie, but a precise and well-constructed one, with a capable and charismatic ensemble cast that delivers the script’s grim message with many not-unpleasurable jolts of adrenaline.
Brian Truitt of USA TODAY agrees this isn’t an easy watch, but it’s an important one. The way it plays out mostly in real time adds to the audience’s stress, he says, but the film loses a bit of steam by repeating the same window of time from different characters’ perspectives. Truitt gives it 3 out of 4 stars, writing:
Bigelow inserts a quasi-whodunit aspect into an already white-knuckle affair. Over nerve-wracking cell phone calls, video chats and in-person conversations, the various players desperately try to figure out who fired and how, and some even question if there’s a missile at all. The Oscar-winning filmmaker makes the viewer as torn and confused and at wits’ end as the people trying to avoid doomsday.
Mark Hughes of Forbes says the director boasts one of the most impressive resumes in modern filmmaking, with her movies asking complex questions and forcing us to examine ourselves and our society to see what our history and present say about our future. A House of Dynamite certainly accomplishes this, Hughes writes:
Kathryn Bigelow’s A House of Dynamite tells us the final hour of civilization will be confusing, clouded by emotion and fear, lacking adequate information or time to make a rational choice. Which is precisely why the choices are all conveniently figured out beforehand. The trouble is, all of those choices are in a Black Book of nuclear launch orders.
John Powers of NPR says that, sadly, Kathryn Bigelow’s warning about nuclear war won’t likely have any real-world effect when it comes to those holding the codes. A House of Dynamite probably won’t result in making us safer, but it’s exciting nonetheless. Powers says:
While all of this is unnerving, it’s also thrilling to watch. Bigelow directs with a maestro’s lucid precision, perfectly orchestrating the complicated shifts from person to person, time frame to time frame. We can follow exactly where we are and what’s going on. Every moment pops, from Barry Ackroyd’s alert cinematography, to Kirk Baxter’s jittery-but-controlled editing, to Volker Bertelmann’s score whose shifts keep ratcheting up the tension. While the script’s ending is a tad too oblique for my taste, the movie still packs a wallop.
While the majority of critics seem to agree with those above — A House of Dynamite holds a “Certified Fresh” 80% on Rotten Tomatoes, with an equally high score from the audience.
Johnny Oleksinski of the NY Post calls the movie a cheesy “overcooked casserole.” He gives the movie 2 stars out of 4, writing that it feels like a ‘90s disaster flick. In Oleksinski’s words:
Dynamite is more about what happens if the initial strike isn’t prevented right away. Do we retaliate against or disarm North Korea, Russia and China even if we’re not sure who did it? Will acting fast save the US or lead to its total destruction? Relevant and scary questions, all. What a shame then how simply they’re undone by the many hard-to-believe characters saying mockable things.
A House of Dynamite saw a limited release in theaters and is now available to stream with a Netflix subscription, as of October 24. It certainly sounds like a different kind of horror scenario to mix into this month’s haunting tales.