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Netflix just released a brand-new political thriller from the award-winning director of The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty — and it’s instantly the most important movie of 2025.
Helming her first film since 2017’s Detroit, Kathryn Bigelow returns with this nail-biting doomsday thriller about government response to a worst-case nuclear scenario for the United States. Told through overlapping perspectives with a top-notch cast, A House of Dynamite is often as thrilling and terrifying as a horror film.
Watch With Us loves a good political thriller, so we unsurprisingly loved A House of Dynamite — and we think you will too.
We break down why it’s a must-watch this weekend.
The Non-Linear Structure Adds Depth and Complexity
A House of Dynamite‘s plot is pretty straightforward — a nuclear missile from an unidentified source is heading straight for the United States, and the film follows different White House and government employees as they try to figure out how to stop this existential threat. First, we’re with a senior officer in the White House Situation Room named Captain Olivia Walker (Rebecca Ferguson), then a senior USAF officer at United States Strategic Command (Tracy Letts), and then the President himself (Idris Elba). Within each perspective shift, we see other perspectives as well.
Similar to how Weapons’ use of the non-linear, overlapping perspective narrative structure allowed an arguably simple story to become something much more complex and engrossing, so too does A House of Dynamite’s non-linear structure allow for a type of richness in character and in story that can’t quite be achieved through a standard narrative. It also adds to the film’s heart-pounding suspense, as each section of the film ends on a cliffhanger until the shattering conclusion.
The Tension Ramps Up and Doesn’t Let Go
Watching A House of Dynamite is like watching the most captivating thriller film you’ve ever seen. At the end of the day, it’s a piece of popcorn entertainment about a very realistic end-of-the-world scenario, and yet it’s completely pleasurable to watch. You’ll be leaning forward in your seat as government workers run around each other, talking in different rooms, trying to quell the existential threat. And then just as that tension climaxes and crests, it’s onto the next perspective.
Ultimately, A House of Dynamite is a lot of people talking in different rooms, and yet the acting, direction, editing and style create this totally engrossing rollercoaster ride that you won’t be able to get off of. The consistently high stakes driven by the real-world scenario are bolstered by the high emotional stakes of many of the characters. As evidenced by her past work, Bigelow is a master at building tension and suspense, and her newest work is a real hair-raiser.
The Ensemble Cast Delivers Outstanding Performances
A huge part of what makes A House of Dynamite tick (no pun intended) is attributable to the cast, most of whom are skilled character and television actors. In addition to Dune’s Rebecca Ferguson and the great Idris Elba, we have Tracy Letts (Lady Bird), Jared Harris (Mad Men), Kaitlyn Dever (Justified), Anthony Ramos (Twisters), Gabriel Basso (The Night Agent) and Moses Ingram (Obi-Wan Kenobi).
Every actor does a fantastic job not only at making the threat to them and their country believable, but also at evoking the individual emotional stakes that lie for all of them. Some are parents or parents-to-be, some have family in Chicago where the missile is aimed at. Bigelow and her performers do a great job at making the audience invest in the characters as more than just tension-delivery machines, but as real people with something to lose.
‘A House of Dynamite’ is Fictional, But It Deals With a Real-World Fear
Part of what makes A House of Dynamite so particularly gripping is that the central threat is a tangible fear that exists outside of the film as well. While the Cold War is over and done with, the world’s nations are still armed with nuclear weapons capable of annihilating the entire planet — some of which are hostile to the United States. All we can exist on is good faith that they won’t actually use them against us.
As Oppenheimer ruminated on present-day nuclear fears by looking to the past, A House of Dynamite creates a possible road map for nuclear war right now. The film exposes the fragility of the systems we have in place to protect the country, and manages to produce a totally absorbing — and disquieting — movie in the process.
Stream A House of Dynamite now on Netflix.
