Written by: Noah Oppenheim
Starring: Idris Elba, Rebecca Ferguson, Gabriel Basso, Jared Harris, Tracy Letts
Rating: [3.5/5]
Preparation breeds success. It’s the only way to properly ensure when things inevitably go wrong, everything should go well if a solid plan exists. However, even the best-laid plans cannot escape extraordinary circumstances that leave even the most level-headed individuals unaware of how to proceed. We witness this in the high-stress A House of Dynamite, where the threat of a nuclear weapon on its way to an American city places everyone involved in a situation they have prepared for but never envisioned actually needing to carry out.
When an early warning radar detects a ballistic missile inflight over the Pacific Ocean, it raises alarms and goes up the chain to the appropriate parties. What initially appears as a test begins to raise concerns of it actually having a trajectory towards the United States. Now trying to decipher its validity and the actions to take, various government officials at various levels face impossible decisions before them, with the possibility of nuclear war before them.
The fright of nuclear war has been in the American consciousness for so long that it has lost much of its fear among the average person. In a time not too long ago school children would do drills in case of a nuclear attack, but now the fear of mutually assured destruction with many countries armed with these weapons in a way has subsided much of this terror. Even if the American populace can remain lackadaisical about this threat, those charged with monitoring cannot, which allows us to witness the tension in A House of Dynamite as it takes us down this terrifying ride.
As one watches this film, they will notice its repetitiveness as it plays out the same events from different perspectives. We initially see it through the eyes of Captain Olivia Walker (Rebecca Ferguson) from the Situation Room, with one particular conference call containing the other individuals whose perspective we switch to. An interesting tactic from a filmmaking perspective, seeing as it runs the risk of boring audiences, but the success found in this film does not come from the changing perspective bringing something new narratively but rather from shedding light on the humanity involved in the decision-making.
This conference call containing all of the decisionmakers on what to do about this missile and how to appropriately respond carries so much pressure because so much ambiguity remains. They do not have a clear motive on what caused this missile to be on a collision course with the United States, nor do they know who sent it. Therefore, we have individuals tasked with what to do with the people on the ground, but also the president, who needs to make decisions on how to properly respond to this action. Each new perspective sheds light that these individuals, even when tasked with these large responsibilities, are still invariably human. These decisions have a true cost to them, and seeing their reaction to everything on camera and not part of a conference call carries real power. The filmmaking makes a bet on having that particular impact with the risk of boring audiences, and in my book, it more than succeeded.
A House of Dynamite marks the long-awaited return of Kathryn Bigelow, whose last film, Detroit, was released eight years prior to this film’s release. No matter the subject matter, Bigelow knows how to bring an immense amount of intensity to all of her projects. Nothing she makes seeks to provide even the tiniest semblance of comfort to her audiences, and she does it yet again with this feature. She assembles quite the cast to tell this story, who each play a minor role, but as an ensemble, they each bring a critical component to conveying the danger, the paranoia, and the genuine fear for not only what will transpire but also how the world will never be the same by the end of it all.
Having another Kathryn Bigelow on our screens will always be a cause for celebration, and her return marks that she still has her fastball. While the film does not hit her very best, she tackles such a difficult subject matter and does so in an unerringly exhilarating manner. Every decision matters mightily as these individuals must finally utilize all of their training and preparation for a moment they prayed they would never need to encounter. The moment has now arrived, and seeing how all of this plays out makes for such a thrilling experience.
Films with Josh 
