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A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE

Play trailer 1:57 Poster for A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE R Oct 2025 1h 52m Mystery & Thriller Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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75% Tomatometer 250 Reviews 77% Popcornmeter 100+ Verified Ratings
From Academy Award® winning director Kathryn Bigelow. When a single, unattributed missile is launched at the United States, a race begins to determine who is responsible and how to respond.
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A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE

A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE

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Critics Consensus

Playing out a nightmare scenario with nerve-wracking plausibility, Kathryn Bigelow's masterfully-constructed A House of Dynamite is an urgent thriller that's as distressing as it is riveting.

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Audience Says

A taut, unconventional thriller, A House of Dynamite sharply dissects the political and human stakes of a missile crisis with chilling credibility.

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Critics Reviews

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Dwight Brown DwightBrownInk.com 4d
4/4
By film's end you'll need a stiff drink, some strong weed or a calming walk around the block. That's the mark of a riveting thriller. Go to Full Review
Jesse Hassenger AV Club Nov 14
C+
Despite Bigelow’s by now well-practiced way with control-room immediacy and the material’s avoidance of easy-relief endings, there’s still a lingering sense of Hollywood in the air. Go to Full Review
Tim Cogshell FilmWeek (LAist) Nov 11
I just love that amount of detail... This is the way this works. Go to Full Review
Pat Bulfamante The MontyVerse (YouTube) 1d
2/5
There’s power in restraint, and A House of Dynamite attempts to prove it, but it’s just a lot of smoke, not enough fire. A film about making decisions that ultimately fails to make one. Go to Full Review
Marlon Wallace The M Report (WBOC.com) Nov 24
If it's a debate, the film should have made it more of a debate. Elba's character is more stumbling through the third and final section. It's okay to stumble but Elba's talents are wasted because he doesn't even express an opinion or strong point-of-view. Go to Full Review
Lauren Veneziani WBAL-TV (Baltimore) Nov 24
4/5
Kathryn Bigelow's direction makes this film feel authentic, raw and thrilling. Rebecca Ferguson is easily a standout and the entire ensemble is fantastic. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Meloney Oct 28 Enjoyed this political thriller. I peeked at the reviews before seeing it, so the fact that the ending was not revealed did not bother me. I thought aspects of the plot were realistic (human error, tech errors) and the story was well told. See more David A Oct 26 As always from Kathryn Bigelow, a tight thriller on an important subject. See more Eileen E Oct 21 Brilliant! Complex interwoven government and military interactions responding to a missile threat that couldn’t be identified or stopped. May go again tomorrow! See more Steven Oct 20 Great Editing! Rashomon on steroids! See more Joshua R Oct 20 “A House of Dynamite” is a superb procedural thriller that favors observation over conventional plotting. Like Paul Greengrass’s “United 93,” it adopts a verité, process-first approach: tension comes from watching professionals confront the unimaginable and work their systems in real time. There are no traditional leads, no tidy arcs, just the relentless mechanics of response. The ensemble is excellent, the direction precise, and the overall effect chillingly credible. If you can, see it in a theater. SPOILERS BELOW * * * * * * * * * Spoiler thoughts I keep seeing, “Great film… until the end.” That misses the point. Bigelow isn’t interested in spoon-feeding you an answer; she’s dramatizing the machinery that precedes one. We don’t witness the president’s final call because the film isn’t about the ultimate outcome. It’s about people, not movie heroes, doing their jobs under maximum pressure. A definitive resolution would create false closure. Holding the outcome in suspension is the film’s power. See more Will Oct 19 Complete waste of time and a failure of a film. See more Read all reviews
A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE

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Movie Info

Synopsis From Academy Award® winning director Kathryn Bigelow. When a single, unattributed missile is launched at the United States, a race begins to determine who is responsible and how to respond.
Director
Kathryn Bigelow
Producer
Kathryn Bigelow, Noah Oppenheim, Greg Shapiro
Screenwriter
Noah Oppenheim
Distributor
Netflix
Production Co
Netflix, First Light Productions
Rating
R
Genre
Mystery & Thriller, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Oct 10, 2025, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Oct 24, 2025
Runtime
1h 52m
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