Mystery/Thriller Kathryn Bigelow’s ‘A House of Dynamite | Idris Elba, Rebecca Ferguson, Jarred Harris, Greta Lee

[Pennywise]

EXCLUSIVE: Greta Lee is the latest to join the growing ensemble for Kathryn Bigelow‘s next film at Netflix. The untitled thriller also stars Idris Elba, Rebecca Ferguson, Jared Harris and Gabriel Basso. Bigelow will direct. Netflix had no comment on the casting.

The film’s title and plot remain under wraps, though sources have told Deadline that it will be set at the White House as a national crisis unfolds. The project marks Bigelow’s first feature since the 2017 thriller Detroit, an awards contender produced and distributed by Annapurna Pictures, which starred John Boyega, Will Poulter, Kaitlyn Dever and more.

 

[Stringer]

Detroit was well acted and well made, but was unrelentingly brutal. Hopefully she dials down on that in this film.

 

[Pennywise]

 

[Pennywise]

 

[Pennywise]

 

[Pennywise]

 

[Pennywise]

 

[Pennywise]

Kathryn Bigelow’s ‘A House Of Dynamite’ To Debut In Theaters & Netflix This Fall

A House of Dynamite, the next movie from The Hurt Locker Oscar winner Kathryn Bigelow, will hit theaters this October and stream on Netflix on Oct. 24. The movie penned by Noah Oppenheim is billed as follows: “When a single, unattributed missile is launched at the United States, a race begins to...

deadline.com

 

[Deck Rickard]

I was interested until I saw Gabriel “actors should shut the **** up about politics” Basso’s name. Because any time a celebrity says that, you know exactly what side they’re on. Also, that’s rich coming from the guy who helped make JD Vance a household name.

Never mind the fact that I wouldn’t cast this d-bag simply based on his approach to acting:

“We’re saying words that we’re told to say. We’re told how to say them. We’re told where to stand.”

Wow. Next DDL right here, ladies and gentlemen.

 

[Pennywise]

I was interested until I saw Gabriel “actors should shut the **** up about politics” Basso’s name. Because any time a celebrity says that, you know exactly what side they’re on. Also, that’s rich coming from the guy who helped make JD Vance a household name.

Never mind the fact that I wouldn’t cast this d-bag simply based on his approach to acting:

“We’re saying words that we’re told to say. We’re told how to say them. We’re told where to stand.”

Wow. Next DDL right here, ladies and gentlemen.

Never heard of that guy before today, but I can tell he sucks!

 

[Deck Rickard]

Never heard of that guy before today, but I can tell he sucks!

He sucks at acting too. I tried watching the Night Agent and he put me to sleep.

 

[Pennywise]

 

[Pennywise]

A House of Dynamite review – Kathryn Bigelow’s nuclear endgame thriller is a terrifying, white-knuckle comeback

Idris Elba, Rebecca Ferguson and Tracy Letts star in this immaculately constructed nightmare procedural that ticks down the minutes from an atomic bomb’s launch to its detonation

www.theguardian.com

‘A House of Dynamite’ review: Idris Elba heads Kathryn Bigelow’s ambitious nuclear age thriller

Elba leads a superb cast including Rebecca Ferguson and Jared Harris in the director's Venice competition title

www.screendaily.com

'A House of Dynamite' Review: Kathryn Bigelow's Riveting Thriller Is a Nuclear Nightmare

Kathryn Bigelow's story of a potential missile launch aimed at the U.S. delineates the inner workings of the national security apparatus with a muscularity that is all her own

www.thewrap.com

‘A House Of Dynamite’ Review: Kathryn Bigelow Returns With Another Explosive Political Thriller [Venice]

Kathryn Bigelow's urgent and visceral political thriller 'A House Of Dynamite' stars Idris Elba, Rebecca Ferguson and more.

theplaylist.net

‘A House of Dynamite’ Review: We’re All F**ked in Kathryn Bigelow’s Horrifically Gripping and Hopeless Nuclear Missile Thriller

Kathryn Bigelow stages a fictional-only-in-premise nuclear attack on the United States in her horrifically gripping 'A House of Dynamite.' Review.

www.indiewire.com

A House of Dynamite movie review (2025) | Roger Ebert

Bigelow’s ability to take a series of hypotheticals and render them into narrative actuality has never been more pinpoint accurate or merciless.

www.rogerebert.com

A House of Dynamite review: 'Riveting' US nuclear attack thriller is 'more terrifying than most horror films'

The Hurt Locker director Kathryn Bigelow builds "excruciating tension" in a film about a nuclear missile headed for the US.

www.bbc.com

"A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE" - Review

THE STORY – Centered on White House staffers grappling with an impending missile strike on America, this gripping drama unfolds in real-time as tensions escalate. THE CAST – Idris Elba, Rebecca Ferguson, Gabriel Basso, Jared Harris, Tracy Letts, Anthony Ramos, Moses Ingram, Jonah Hauer-King...

nextbestpicture.com

A House of Dynamite review: Kathryn Bigelow's terrifying nuclear thriller is among her very best

Rebecca Ferguson and Idris Elba face a living nightmare in this nerve-shredding drama.

www.radiotimes.com

A House of Dynamite – first-look review

Kathryn Bigelow's taut political thriller sees the US government race to respond to an impending nuclear threat.

lwlies.com

 

[Pennywise]

 

[Filmfreak]

This looks very good. I hope it gets released in cinemas in my country as well.

 

[CaptainWagner]

Was not expecting the reviews to be this good. Definitely excited for it! It's good to have Bigelow back in the big leagues.

 

[Dave McFly]

love seeing my girl Rebecca in this this looks so good cannot wait to see it

 

[Pennywise]

 

[elgaz]

I watched this last night. And boy am I divided.

Even though it's in tags, I'm going to reiterate - spoiler below directly references the ending so please don't read if you don't want it spoiled.

Spoiler

It is simultaneously one of the best and most tense things I've ever watched, and also the most frustrating. It perfectly captures the tension, fear, panic, confusion and concern that would echo through the upper echelons of government and military as they realise that an ICBM has been launched and is going to hit America within a very short time. Is it real? Who launched it? Where did it launch from? Should there be an immediate retaliation? Should civilians be warned? Can it be intercepted?

The cast is stacked with great actors and they all deliver great performances. The situation room(s) look real, and not glitzy tech-heavy typical Hollywood sets. The delivery of the story - from different perspectives - works very well for the most part, although there is a little repetition at times. The stakes are incredibly high and it feels real-world.

And then it ends, just like that. We don't find out what happens.

I'm sure Kathryn Bigelow will be of the mindset that the film is not about the nuclear strike itself, but about the - very contemporary - fear of nuclear threat and the decisions taken in those short few minutes that could affect potentially hundreds of millions of lives. And from that perspective, this absolutely succeeds. But to ratchet up such tension and stress and then have no payoff is almost cruel. I had to double-check it was actually a movie and not a TV show/mini-series as it ended so abruptly, I fully expected I had made a mistake and there was another episode to come.

If any film ever deserved a sequel purely for the audience to get their payoff, this is it

First 95% of the movie - 9/10
Last 5 mins - 2/10

 

[Filmfreak]

I had a similar frustration about the ending but then I thought about it and I like it more this way. It's consistent with the whole premise and the POV of the characters throughout the entirety of movie. It almost beats the entire purpose of the film to show

Spoiler

what actually happened and to give us any answers.

 

[elgaz]

I had a similar frustration about the ending but then I thought about it and I like it more this way. It's consistent with the whole premise and the POV of the characters throughout the entirety of movie. It almost beats the entire purpose of the film to show

Spoiler

what actually happened and to give us any answers.

I did consider that, but I think the film does such a good job of building up tension and drama to a near bursting point ....

Spoiler

... that when the ending finally comes, it's not a bang, but a soft deflation. I personally needed some emotional and dramatic pay-off rather than a what-if scenario, although I concede everyone will have a different viewpoint on it. The film is a victim of its own success in some way in that regard, because everything before the last act is so effective then it's difficult for that last act to measure up.

Still, nothing a sequel can't solve . I did half expect to see a "to be concluded!" line or similar.

 

[Elayis]

The Rashomon-esque flashbacks kind of killed the tension for me. It doesn't help that there are no true characters here, just tropes, and it relies on the shorthand of children or spouses to feign development.

The Sum of all Fears handled this a lot better. I understand Bigelow's inclination to not offer any easy answers, but the movie's more of a thought experiment than an actual drama. It was striking, though, that the higher up the ladder the movie went, the less the characters seemed to know.

The problem with the movie's premise, though, is that it assumes every world leader is operating from a place of good faith and is more or less competent. The prospect of a looming nuclear holocaust cannot be avoided when the world is ruled by narcissistic, incurious and cruel people whose sole interest is domination. Everyone thought Putin wasn't dumb enough to start an actual war, and we know how reliable that kind of thinking was.

 

[CaptainWagner]

Very glad that I got to see this in theaters. Incredible editing and sound design keep the tension high and overlap the narratives in unique ways. Great ensemble - Rebecca Ferguson especially is incredible.

Obviously, the main conversation point is the ending, and I'm so glad Bigelow and Oppenheim handled it the way they did. Showing what actually happens would have totally defeated the central conceit of the movie, that being the uncertainty, the demand of action without all the intel, and ultimately the fact that there are no "good" endings to the story. Any other ending would have felt either cheap or exploitative.

 

[Filmfreak]

I love the fact that the writer of a movie about a possible nuclear catastrophe is called Oppenheim.

 

[Dr.]

Perhaps it was the mood I was in… But I found A House of Dynamite to be extremely distressing to watch — to the point of feeling physically ill. So on the “fun time at the movies” scale, it was a 1/5 for me. In terms of execution, it was brilliant: a 5/5.

Also… It was particularly depressing to see the eminently competent President Idris Elba confront the “Kobayashi Maru” — the no-win scenario. Imagine the same circumstances with an idiot POTUS.