“At the End of the Cold War, Nuclear Powers Agreed That The World Would Be Better Without Nuclear Weapons, That Era Has Ended.”

I think every American has thought about what nuclear war would be like at some point in their lives. I have that’s for sure. Seeing various films and television/streaming shows about war or military service or even government leadership is just a little part of what we as civilians know. Kathryn Bigelow, Academy Award winner for Best Director and Best Picture for The Hurt Locker and director of Zero Dark Thirty, knows a little about the inner workings of the country’s military operations. With A House Of Dynamite, she takes her knowledge one step further. With a script by Noah Oppenheim and a stellar cast, she puts the audience in the shows of those who have to make the decision regarding a nuclear attack. It’s a pretty intense and tragic look at what could possibly happen.

This story takes place in three chapters.Chapter 1: Inclination of Flattening, Chapter 2: Hitting a Bullet With A Bullet, Chapter 3: A House Filled With Dynamite. Each of these segments of the film relates the same material but from a different character’s point of view. For instance, the first chapter is from Rebecca Ferguson and Anthony Ramos’ viewpoint, the second is from Tracey Letts and Gsbriel Basso’s, and the third is mainly from Idris Elba’s and Jared Harris’s.These three segments show every possible side of the situation at hand here in this film. All the various phone calls and Zoom meetings were shown in great detail. Bigelow spared no money in getting everything she got for this movie. It’s so very authentic to what would actually go on in these types of emergency situations.

One of the things I love about movies that are set in a real world like this one is that there are a lot of organizations and groups with initials that get brought up. Here are even some locations every day, Americans aren’t familiar with getting a bit of the spotlight. Such as The White House Situation Room, Washington DC, Defcon 1, the designation on the state of emergency the country is in. FEMA Federal Emergency Management Agency, SBX Sea Based X-Band Radar in the Pacific Ocean, GBI Ground Based Interceptors, SECDEF the Secretary of Defense, STRATCOM cF2 Command Control Facility: Home of America’s Nuclear Force, Nebraska, EKV Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle, a DE Designated Evacuee, Indio Pacific Command, Raven Rock Mountain Complex Self Sufficient Bunker, 49th Missile Defense Battalion Alaska, All of these places, things, and government designations added to the realistic nature of this film. The story was much better off with all of this jargon in it. I was instantly sucked into this movie once I saw these places.

I mentioned some of the cast earlier in this review, but they deserved to be mentioned again. All of these actors did a fantastic job in their various roles. From the biggest named actors to the lesser known ones, they were all terrific in this film. They genuinely brought me as a viewer into this secretive government world I didn’t know anything about. Olivia Walker (Rebecca Ferguson), POTUS ( Idris Elba), General Anthony Brady (Terry Letts), Major Daniel Gonzalez (Anthony Ramos)  Ana Park (Greta Lee) Deputy of National Security Advisor Jake Bearington (Gabriel Basso), Abby Jansing (Willa Fitzgerald), daughter of Jared Harris’s character (Kaitlyn Dever)  Admiral Mark Miller (Jason Clarke) Secretary of Defense Reid Baker (Jared Harris), Kathy Rogers FEMA (Moses Ingram) Stealth bomber pilot (Kyle Allen) and Lt. Commander Robert Reeves POTUS advisor (Jonah Hauer King) This cast might be one that is considered for the best cast of the year come the Academy Awards next year. I love it when a great cast like this is assembled and sucks me into their world. In this case, it is a very realistic world. 

I’ve seen my share of films that put characters in a state of emergency. Both versions of the War of the Worlds come to mind and many war movies. Also, disaster films like Earthquake, San Andres, and The Towering Inferno. These kinds of films create a sense of genuine dread, and that’s why they work so well.This picture works in a similar way. Especially since it’s set in such a realistic world as ours. As the disaster gets closer and closer to happening, there is a ticking clock on a screen in the situation room, and it’s continuously counting down the minutes and seconds. You see the despair on people’s faces. And when things go wrong in an attempt to stop the impending doom, the fear really sets in on all of the characters in the film. It’s one of the scariest things I’ve seen all year. Especially considering we as a world are on the brink of this kind of catastrophic tragedy ourselves. Bigelow and Oppenheim put a fear in me like I haven’t had in a while.

One of the technical things about the film I noticed right away besides the obvious great camera work and cinematography by Barry Aykroyd is the score by Oscar winner Volker Burtlemann. His score, similar to that of Conclave, used a lot of stringed instruments such as violins and cellos.These chords came in at the right time to help create the dread I was talking about earlier. I haven’t heard of many composers who use these kinds of stringed instruments to such great effects as he does. As soon as I started listening to the amazing score, I instantly knew it was him because his style was so noticeable. He has a distinct style that I love so much. His music in this picture and others draws me completely in. This was such an incredible score that is one of the best I’ve heard all year.

“A House Of Dynamite “ hits, no pun intended,  way too close to home for me, and I’m sure for many others who will eventually see this film. Bigelow and Oppenheim create a genuine sense of despair at every turn. Each of the three segments, the audience gets more and more information while also becoming more and more worried. This scenario is all too real in the world we live in with some of the trigger happy despots that rule other countries. The entire cast does a great job in the biggest and littlest roles. Bigelow assembled an incredible cast for this film. The score by Burtlemann and the camera work and cinematography by Barry Aykroyd were both stellar. This is one of those movies I think people will be scared to watch because what it potentially suggests could happen in the near future. I explore people to watch it, though you face what might happen. Then again, it may not happen. Who knows? This film deserves an audience, whether it’s in theaters or on Netflix. We all need to face the reality of the situation we are in as a country and the world.

4 ½ stars

Dan Skip Allen