A House Of Dynamite (Kathryn Bigelow, October 24, 2025, Netflix) Movie • Page 2

i think largely the point of the movie was that it's a nightmare scenario to which there is no right answer.

i also think it's easy to criticize decisions that have already been made because you can see the results, but it's more difficult when put in the position of making that decision to really know what to do. leaving it open ended and unresolved kind of forces you into that position of making the call for yourself without the benefit of hindsight.
i think it was also interesting to see like, despite all the plans in place and contingencies for those plans all being put to use, they still couldn't believe it was really happening. like, those plans exist for a reason but they never thought it would actually come to fruition. i was reminded of how much the Chernobyl series fixated on how what happened "wasn't possible," but it happened anyway and they just had to accept that.

i dunno, i took a lot away from this and i think even with a polarizing ending there's a lot of great stuff in it.

 

I do think not really focusing on the public was an interesting choice. Like, in the end, to these people, outside of their immediate family, millions of people are just numbers on a board that they and the audience never see.

I think the very end is weird where they show the people being bussed into the sheltered area. Feel like it could have ended with Idris.

 

Liked this a lot. Not great accent work from Rebecca. MVP low key.... Gabriel Basso??

 

Thought this was great. Didn't have a problem with the ending, though I think I'd have cut it off a scene earlier.

 

Pentagon Disputes 'House Of Dynamite' Missile Accuracy; Writer Responds

 

Movie was fantastic, although I admit by the third act I *kinda* wanted to FF just a tiny bit to get past the stuff is already seen....I wanted to see beyond what we already knew. But it was still compelling enough to keep me interested and the performances nailed it.

 

Wouldn't be a late-career Kathryn Bigelow movie without an entire cottage industry of "How accurate was this?" content.

 

Idk the ending aside I loved this. Great performances

 

I’m still watching this but came to the thread to see if anyone had mentioned this book yet. My favorite read this entire year.

 

thought this was doodoo after a very good first act

 

First act was great and then it was like what if we do it 2 more times but make it worse each time!

 

I watched this in two sittings, several days apart. Act 1 on a Saturday evening, the rest on Monday night. I think it actually benefited from not being watched all at once. I got to sit with how effective that first act was for 48 hours, and then was less bothered by the repetition.

 

Comes out of the gate incredibly strong.
But by refusing to illustrate any meaningful fallout (pun intended) of a strike makes the entire effort feel so fucking limp. The film ends the exact moment it was supposed to make a statement, literally any statement, about what we just watched. They may as well have cut to this clip after "Mr. President, your orders."

I mentioned above the book Nuclear War: A Scenario. This book messed with me on such an existential level that when I finished it, I was actually relieved. Everyone I know and love would be gone so quickly, I wouldn't even have time to panic.

What I hate so much about the ending of the film is it wants us to think it's an impossible decision, but what's actually scary is that any decision is a futile decision. The world ended the second that missile launched, the characters just didn't know it yet. By copping out at the last second, we can still pretend that there is a way to thread the needle and prevent Armageddon.

 

Just read part of the Wikipedia summary for that book y'all are talking about, and I now want to crawl into a cupboard and tremble in the fetal position. Thanks!

 

I thought this was pretty good, mainly based on the strength of the actor's performances, but that last scene was such an odd choice, especially where there was such an obvious place to end the film right after it cuts to black after Idris Elba says "my orders". Very strange choice and weak way to end the film that absolutely undercuts what they appeared to be going for.

I did think it was interesting to see how people reacted in an unimaginable and unimaginably stressful scenario still trying to perform their jobs / roles all the way up the chain.

also, it kinda felt like Kathryn Bigelow found out that we basically can't shoot nukes down but thought that we could before that and was like 'holy shit I need to make a movie about this to let people know' when that information is out there and widely known, albeit mostly just ignored by everyone apparently

 

Pretty much hit play on the audiobook and never hit pause. Eyes wide through the final 1/3.

 

I will simply not be doing that.

 

Just downloaded the book

 

I understand from a screenwriting perspective why you do the Lane Pryce & his daughter storyline, and it gave the actors some good material to work with and a chance to shine, but I think it would have been more powerful and affecting to have one of the people in power do what his character did because 10,000,000+ Chicagoans *who are not his daughter* are about to be annihilated and untold more people are about to suffer unimaginable horrors

 

I get what you’re saying. But I think I’d rather spend my last ~20 minutes on earth not knowing instead of knowing and also knowing there’s nothing I can do about it. There’s only so many phone calls and texts you could make in that mindset and panic.

 

So this is a serious version of Dr. Strangelove?

 

Basically yeah

Feels like if Dr. Strangelove got a rewrite from Aaron Sorkin.

 

The thing was about to hit zero and they cut to some guy swinging a pistol. Weapons had the same sort of thing but it was done so much more artfully.

 

Would a President really be carrying around cash? What is he buying? Is he carrying coins too?