‘A House of Dynamite’ Review: Kathryn Bigelow’s Politics Apocalypse is a Potent Potboiler [B+] Venice
In her first film in almost a decade, Kathryn Bigelow returns with A House of Dynamite, an incredibly timely film with an inventive narrative structure, tremendous technical merit and an undeniable emotional impact. It is a reminder why Bigelow is one of the best filmmakers working today, one that has been truly missed on the filmmaking landscape. Known for her uncompromising, often harsh films that address hard truths, often political but nevertheless deeply humane, Dynamite might as well be a fitting conclusion to her war trilogy (the Oscar -winning The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty).
Whereas her 2012 film, Zero Dark Thirty, was about a historic American victory, Dynamite is about American defeat. The former was a true story that rocked the world (the capture of Osama bin Laden), but even though Dynamite is entirely fictional, it never feels improbable or implausible. The sheer technical and narrative brilliance (outstanding awards-worthy editing by Kirk Baxter, an unforgettable, nerve-wracking score by Volker Bertelmann and strong cinematography by Barry Ackroyd) makes us forget that we’re watching imagined events on screen, a testament to how Bigelow managed to pull off something truly relatable, credible and utterly gripping. It is for that reason that the fictional defeat depicted here feels just as shocking as the actual victory depicted in ZDT. In both cases, it is Bigelow’s bravura filmmaking that draws us in, keeping a hold on us as audiences and never letting go.
But more than conquering our full, uninterrupted attention for its entire runtime, keeping us on the edge of our seats until the credits roll, the film mirrors the world we live in today, allowing us to question what victory and defeat truly mean. Not just from a military standpoint, but first and foremost, from a humane standpoint.
At a time when anti-American sentiment is at an all-time high, Dynamite imagines the world’s largest superpower becoming the most vulnerable with an imminent nuclear attack that threatens to wipe out Chicago entirely, resulting in casualties of over 10 million lives. Two narrative decisions elevate this film from being a conventional ‘America is in danger’ picture to something truly thought-provoking and transcending.
The first is screenwriter Noah Oppenheim’s decision never to reveal the identity of the attacker. As government officials, military experts and security agents scramble to find out which country did it – the film intentionally never reveals the answer. It is clearly not interested in turning this into a cheap mystery but rather show us what it’s like for the American Goliath, one that has established itself as undefeatable, to be truly threatened by an anonymous enemy. What is it like for the invincible to suddenly feel vulnerable? What is it like to have an enemy you can no longer threaten simply because you don’t know its identity? What is it like to have to imagine scenarios that were never once considered to be remotely possible out of pure ego?
The second narrative decision that allows Dynamite to stand out is how the film is structured. An ensemble piece where no character dominates the story but actors get to shine despite their limited screen time (excellent performances from Idris Elba, Rebecca Ferguson, Jared Harris, Tracy Letts, Greta Lee and Anthony Ramos to a name a few), the film presents three segments, with the same events happening in each – but from the perspective of different levels of powers. In the first segment, low-ranking American officials including White House official Olivia Walker (Rebecca Ferguson) have to come to terms with the bleak reality that a nuclear attack, soon to be marked as unavoidable and uninterceptable, is going to hit the country in a matter of 15 minutes. They relay the news to their superiors who begin negotiations with suspect countries who they believe might have carried out the attack. The second segment presents the same events, with slight but pivotal differences that expand the story, from the perspective of higher-ranking officials, closer to POTUS (played by Idris Elba). In the film’s third and final segment, we witness how POTUS himself experiences the event, from the perspective of the supposed king of the world, he who possesses the nuclear codes and the ability to wipe out the enemy with a press of a button. The decision to repeat the event from different perspectives might be frustrating to some viewers who want to see the film events move forward rather than repeat the events in an ascending order – from the least power ranks to the top of the chain.
The fact that the film does not even have a conclusion, and never gives us answers as to who did it or what would eventually happen to the people of Chicago might be a turn off to viewers expecting this to be a traditionally structured picture – but this is the exact point of the film: it is not about an eventual result, but rather what led us there. It is about a world that has been created on notions of menace, fear and who gets to attack first – a house of dynamite that can, and will, explode at any point. When that happen, does it matter who gets to perish first? Does it matter how or in what order we may all vanish from this earth? When the damage is already done, nothing else matters.
In a way, A House of Dynamite almost feels post-apocalyptic. But the apocalypse is already here.
Grade: B+
This review is from the 2025 Venice Film Festival where A House of Dynamite had its world premiere. The film will receive a limited theatrical release on October 10 then on Netflix October 24.
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