A House of Dynamite review (2025)
A House of Dynamite is undoubtedly the best film with the worst ending in many years. In fairness, to have the worst ending, A House of Dynamite would actually need to commit to a conclusion.
This Netflix original is a fascinating experience backed by a stellar all-star cast, gripping dialogue and taut, tight direction from Oscar-winner Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker).
It’s an average morning throughout the nation and the various defense and national security monitoring departments are beginning what will be a anything but an ordinary day. Olivia Walker (Rebecca Ferguson, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One) hands off the care of her sick son to her husband as she heads into day job as the oversight officer for the White House Situation Room.
That standard day goes sideways when early warning radar detects an intercontinental ballistic missile, or ICBM, launched from some undetermined source. Worse, the ICBM is heading towards Chicago.
At Alaskan base Fort Greeley, Maj. Daniel Gonzalez (Anthony Ramos, Twisters) is tasked with launching two ground-based interceptors to knock out the nuke in orbit. As countermeasure options are dwindling, some members of the President’s staff, including General Brady (Tracy Letts) are encouraging a retaliatory strike effort.
That course of action seems premature as Deputy National Security advisor Jake Baerington (Gabriel Basso) reminds the assembled brass they don’t have solid confirmation as to who actually launched the ICBM. With time counting down towards impact, everyone anxiously awaits the President’s orders.
Bigelow has the viewer right in the palm of her hands at this point with this increasingly escalating tension and the various personalities debating the best course of action. Screenwriter Noah Oppenheim (The Maze Runner, Jackie) has no trouble juggling this large ensemble and giving characters meaningful moments.
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To make A House of Dynamite more than just a doomsday countdown scenario, the film shifts to a second chapter — Hitting a Bullet with a Bullet. The twist here is that it’s a replay of the first chapter, Inclination is Flattening, just told from different perspectives. This one largely shows how Jake, Gen. Brady and Secretary of Defense Reid Baker (Jared Harris) handle the start of the incident and their very different recommendations to the President.
Baker starts the relocation of essential staff members including FEMA’s director of National Continuity Programs Cathy Rogers (Moses Ingram, Obi-Wan Kenobi) and Walker’s boss Admiral Mark Miller (Jason Clarke).
While Walker scoffed at Jake’s focus, this chapter shows that Jake is very much on the ball as he attempts to deal with strong personalities running very short on patience. Harris and Letts are such strong performers it’s easy to take their work here for granted. There is plenty of reasons to be disappointed with A House of Dynamite, but none of it should fall on the cast, which is easily the best ensemble of the year.
Jake suggests calling in NSA advisor Ana Park (Greta Lee, Tron: Ares). Anna has some theories as to who launched the ICBM, but without firm evidence it could be North Korea, a cyberattack from any of America’s enemies or a rogue AI. Any of those options are tantalizing, but there’s also a question of the Russians. In one of the film’s standout moments, Jake speaks to Russia’s foreign minister in hopes of preventing any military escalation to avoid a war.
The final chapter, a House Filled with Dynamite finally shows the whereabouts of the President (Idris Elba, Heads of State) doing some PR work as the launch incident begins. Elba does small things to show the humanity in his presidential portrayal from being winded after running, wondering if he can still make a jump shot and genuinely seeking the advice of his staff as the crisis unfolds.
A House of Dynamite doesn’t have any edge of your seat action sequences, but Bigelow does quicken the pace and tempo during the President sequences as he’s rushed off to safety. He’s accompanied by his Secret Service head (Brian Tee) and his nuclear aide Lt Cdr. Robert Reeves (Jonah Hauer-King, I Know What You Did Last Summer) as we see the scenario play out from his perspective.
At just shy of two hours, A House of Dynamite is a lengthy time investment. It feels even longer due to the varying perspectives gimmick. By the third switched perspective, the repeating dialogue doesn’t feel as intense or compelling. It’s more a matter of moving on past the initial cliffhanger.
This is where A House of Dynamite finally implodes. Instead of choosing a perspective, Bigelow and Oppenheim really needed to deliver a satisfying ending. Given all the potential outcomes raised throughout the film anything would have sufficed.
Instead, Bigelow and Oppenheim just abandon the notion that House of Dynamite needs any kind of resolution. This comes off like an incredibly weak cop-out like neither wanted to make the call, ironically mirroring the President’s decision.
That choice spoils so much of the goodwill earned over the course of the film. A House of Dynamite’s cast props it up from being a terrible viewing experience, but the ending leaves it on a massively disappointing note.
Rating: 5 out of 10
Photo Credit: Netflix
Check out another of Bigelow’s more intense films with Zero Dark Thirty on 4K at Amazon.
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