“A House of Dynamite” stars Idris Elba and Jason Clarke
“A House of Dynamite” is an incredible film, but the ending is guaranteed to upset a lot of people.
Basic info:
- Streaming platform: Netflix
- Plot: When a single, unattributed missile is launched at the United States, a race begins to determine who is responsible and how to respond.
- Cast: Rebecca Ferguson, Idris Elba, Jason Clarke, Gabriel Basso, Jared Harris and Willa Fitzgerald
- Director: Kathryn Bigelow
- Release date: October 10, 2025 in select theaters and October 24th on Netflix.
“A House of Dynamite” is exceptional, but many people won’t like the ending.
I can’t even begin to tell you all how excited I’ve been for “A House of Dynamite” since I saw the first preview.
A movie about a mysterious nuclear missile launch inbound for America?
I’ve never been more immediately sold on anything in my life.
I specifically blocked off my entire late Friday afternoon just to watch this movie, and it absolutely didn’t disappoint at all.
The plot is deceptively simple. The United States detects a missile launch that appears to have come from a submarine near North Korea. In response, officials scramble to uncover what’s happening, activate continuity of government, and face the most consequential decision of all — whether to strike back, and against whom, when they can’t be entirely sure who the aggressor is.
“A House of Dynamite” is a very entertaining movie. (Credit: Netflix)
Was it the North Koreans? Was it China? Was it Russia? Was it one of our adversaries doing it in hopes America would blame a different country?
These answers have to be worked out in under 20 minutes as the President, played by Idris Elba, is presented options for retaliatory strikes.
The film unfolds in three segments, each following a different group of people experiencing the missile detection from their own perspective. The stories intertwine, revealing new information with each successive segment.
From a technical standpoint, it’s fairly accurate to how such a scenario would unfold. Key government leaders would be evacuated to secure locations or sheltered in bunkers around Washington, D.C., while interception attempts are made.
America would go to DEFCON 1, USSTRATCOM would start getting bombers in the air, missiles would be ready to be fired, and then it would come down to the President.
Respond with nuclear weapons or not?
That brings me to the ending.
*WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS BELOW. CONSIDER YOURSELF WARNED*
The viewer never finds out if the President ordered a retaliatory strike. The screen goes dark after seeing people rush into a bunker for continuity of government and one last look at the base in Alaska.
The President is told by the military aid carrying The Football that there are two options to end it all immediately, but you never see him pick one.
That’s the entire point, and it was clear to me early on we were never going to find out what the response was. The ending is going to upset a lot of people. That’s just a fact, but it makes sense for what “House of Dynamite” was going for. The film isn’t about the response. It’s about the chaos and insanely limited time potentially world-ending decisions must be made.
For example, the Russians wanted guarantees a retaliatory strike on a different nation, such as North Korea, wouldn’t have missiles flying through their airspace. That guarantee, of course, can’t be made because there’s a high probability they would. In real life, if American missiles flew through Russian airspace, they would never take our word for it. They would fire immediately back at the United States, and that would be the end of the world.
Having said that, I do think it’s clear that the final moments of the movie with people rushing into the government bunker at the Raven Rock Mountain Complex is a sign the President fired back.
There were planes ripping through the sky, helicopters airborne and clear panic. If everyone had stood down, I don’t think you would have had that kind of scene. In my own personal theory, I think the President took the advice of his military attachment and went for it all with his response.
“A House of Dynamite” is Netflix’s new nuclear war movie. (Cr. Eros Hoagland/Netflix © 2025)
Overall, it’s a very outstanding film that met my lofty expectations, and the Oscars buzz seems justified. Have you seen it? Let me know what you think at David.Hookstead@outkick.com.
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