Netflix has been a major factor during awards season for a few years, but I don’t think they’ve ever brought it quite like this. I’ve been saying all year that I think Train Dreams is one of the best they’ve ever had, but there’s also Guillermo Del Toro’s Frankenstein, and Rian Johnson’s Wake Up Dead Man. While there’s a ton of buzz for it, I still think Kathryn Bigelow’s A House of Dynamite is flying a bit under the radar, but could be the film that everyone ends up talking about when all is said and done.
A House of Dynamite follows the White House response, in real time, to a ballistic missile attack. The script is by Noah Oppenheim, known for penning Jackie and the Maze Runner films.
Like many of Bigelow’s films, the ensemble cast is stacked. Joining Rebecca Ferguson and Idris Elba are Gabriel Basso, Jared Harris, Tracy Letts, Anthony Ramos, Moses Ingram, Jonah Hauer-King, with Greta Lee, and Jason Clarke. Also starring Malachi Beasley, Brian Tee, Brittany O’Grady, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Willa Fitzgerald, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Kyle Allen, and Kaitlyn Dever.
This is Bigelow’s first movie since 2017’s Detroit. She became the first female director to win the Oscar for Best Director with The Hurt Locker. Bigelow followed that with another military drama, Zero Dark Thirty. Some are calling A House of Dynamite the final chapter in a loose trilogy about war and our broken politics.
SYNOPSIS: When a single, unattributed missile is launched at the United States, a race begins to determine who is responsible and how to respond.
A House of Dynamite opens in select UK theaters on October 3rd, followed by a limited theatrical release on October 10th, before debuting on Netflix on October 24th.
