Movie Review: A House of Dynamite

There was a time when the threat of nuclear war was omnipresent among the peoples of the world. Thanks to news reports, pop culture plotlines, and even precautionary drills in schools (that wouldn’t actually achieve anything), everyone felt that life as they knew it could come to an abrupt end at any moment and seemingly at the whims of a fickle few. That era has passed however, and while there are still many, many nuclear weapons distributed around the world, it isn’t something most people seriously worry over. With House of Dynamite, director Kathryn Bigelow (Zero Dark Thirty, The Hurt Locker) and writer Noah Oppenheim (Jackie, The Maze Runner) argue that it’s a mistake not to. They make a frighteningly convincing case for that position.

After a few minutes of character introductions, we watch as various United States government employees contend with the launch of a nuclear missile pointed towards Chicago. Satellites missed it being fired, so no one can say with any certainty who is to blame, though North Korea and to a lesser degree Russia and China seem the most likely. As the projectile hurtles its way towards Illinois, the military attempts to intercept it while everyone else tries to decide how to respond with less than twenty minutes before potential impact.

The film’s structure is likely to irritate some viewers. Broken into three sections, the script builds relentless tension as the warhead draws closer and then at the last second, abruptly takes us back to the beginning to start the countdown all over again. It’s an interesting choice, that truly lets us see the finer details of how different parts of the government might react to such an event, but when the final third of the movie resets the clock yet again, it can’t help but remove some of the suspense.

This is otherwise an exceptionally well-made film. The star-studded cast all fit naturally into their roles, reacting as we would expect human beings to in such a high-stress situation, though a few British accents do slip out from characters that would be very unlikely to have one. Volker Bertelmann delivers another excellent score that befits the overall mood, accenting each moment perfectly.

Bigelow is no slouch when it comes to generating on-screen suspense and her work here continues to back that up. I’m not convinced the structure entirely works and the ending is going to seriously enrage some people, but everything about this story feels like it genuinely could happen and watching seemingly competent people do their best to steer the ship and still struggle makes that possibility truly terrifying. It would serve as a good double feature with the BBC’s 1984 nuclear apocalypse drama Threads as part of a wake-up call for everyone who forgot how much the proliferation of nuclear warheads poses a threat to civilization. As if we didn’t already have enough to worry about. ★★★★