A House of Dynamite is a 2025 American political thriller film directed by Kathryn Bigelow and written by Noah Oppenheim. It stars Idris Elba, Rebecca Ferguson, Gabriel Basso, Jared Harris, Tracy Letts, Anthony Ramos, Moses Ingram, Jonah Hauer-King with Greta Lee and Jason Clarke. The film shows the perspectives and responses of different U.S. government and military officials after an unknown adversary launches an intercontinental ballistic missile at Chicago.

A House of Dynamite premiered in the main competition of the 82nd Venice International Film Festival on September 2, 2025, where it was nominated for the Golden Lion.^[2] It had a limited theatrical release in the UK on October 3 and was released in the United States on October 10, before its global streaming debut on Netflix on October 24. It generally received positive reviews.

PLOT

In Washington, D.C., Captain Olivia Walker, the oversight officer for the White House Situation Room, is informed of several geopolitical developments: an imminent exercise by the PLA, suspicious chatter between Iran and its proxies, and silence from North Korea after a recent ballistic missile test.

The Pacific-based SBX-1 early-warning radar detects an unidentified intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in flight over the northwest Pacific. Initially presumed to be a North Korean test, the situation changes when the ICBM enters low orbit, with a trajectory targeting Chicago within the next twenty minutes.

A video conference is initiated among the Situation Room, the Pentagon, and various commands of the armed forces. The president joins last, and alertness is raised to DEFCON 2. NORTHCOM directs units under Maj. Daniel Gonzalez at Fort Greely, Alaska, to launch two ground-based interceptors (GBI). The first fails to deploy while the second misses impact with the ICBM, horrifying Gonzalez, who vomits outside. Alertness is raised to DEFCON 1.

Secretary of Defense Reid Baker initiates the government’s continuity of governance protocol, resulting in the evacuation of designated federal employees, including FEMA official Cathy Rogers. Deputy National Security Advisor^[a] Jake Baerington, who was rushed to the Presidential Emergency Operations Center (PEOC), advises the president not to retaliate until the missile’s origin is confirmed. With impact only a few minutes away, Walker phones her family to warn them to leave the D.C. area.

Earlier that morning, at Offutt AFB in Nebraska, STRATCOM commander Gen. Anthony Brady is informed of the launch, and joins the conference call while B-2 bombers under INDOPACOM are scrambled to prepare for possible retaliation. Brady’s team observes that China, Russia, and Iran have mobilized their forces; he presents the president with the OPLAN 8010 and recommends immediate retaliation.

While Baerington rushes to the PEOC, he considers attributing the launch to North Korea, and refers to NSA advisor Ana Park, who infers North Korea may possess submarine-launched ballistic missiles. Baerington and Park warn that failure of the DSP satellites to detect the launch could indicate a cyberattack against U.S. C2 systems.

Baerington speaks with Russia’s foreign minister, who denies that they and China launched the missile, but threatens retaliation should Russia be targeted. Baerington attempts to convince him to stand down all Russian military assets in goodwill; the minister leaves to present the idea to the Russian president. With the ICBM nearing Chicago, the president confirms his nuclear command authority with Brady through the biscuit, who advises him to consult with his nuclear aide, Lt Cdr. Robert Reeves, regarding retaliation options.

Earlier that morning, Reeves accompanies the president to a basketball event while Baker starts work at the Pentagon. Both are informed of the unfolding crisis; the president is evacuated by the Secret Service, while Baker unsuccessfully attempts to evacuate his estranged daughter from Chicago. The president is uncertain of Baerington’s idea of non-retaliation, considering it surrender, but cannot bring himself to retaliate as suggested by Brady.

The president learns of the GBIs’ failure to intercept and is airlifted by Marine One to an undisclosed location. Airborne, he confirms his nuclear authority with Brady, confers with Reeves regarding strike options, and is informed of Baerington’s conversation with the Russian foreign minister. He informs the First Lady, who is in Kenya, of the coming disaster. While being evacuated, Baker instead commits suicide by jumping from the rooftop helipad.

The president discusses with Reeves the precarity of nuclear proliferation, comparing it to living in “a house of dynamite“. He is divided between Baerington’s advice against retaliation and Brady’s advice supporting it. Reeves presents the President with two major retaliation options from the OPLAN.

The film ends with Rogers and Park entering the Raven Rock Mountain Complex and Gonzalez kneeling outside Fort Greely.