Film Review: A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE: Kathryn Bigelow is Back with a Probing and Explosive Thriller [NYFF 2025]

A House of Dynamite Review

A House of Dynamite (2025) Film Review from the 63rd Annual New York Film Festival, a movie directed by Kathryn Bigelow, written by Noah Oppenheim and starring Idris Elba, Rebecca Ferguson, Gabriel Basso, Jared Harris, Tracy Letts, Anthony Ramos, Moses Ingram, Jonah Hauer-King, Greta Lee, Jason Clarke, Malachi Beasley, Brian Tee, Brittany O’Grady, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Willa Fitzgerald, Renee Elise Goldsberry, Kyle Allen and Kaitlyn Dever.

Filmmaker Kathryn Bigelow isn’t just one of the greatest female directors working today, she’s one of the best directors in Hollywood, period. With A House of Dynamite, the production values that are employed in the film are of the highest quality and the film is expertly crafted by Bigelow. It’s a terrifying story that has some minor issues with the casting in terms of its central roles which are never really developed much, but nevertheless, the tension which is built over the course of the film is nail-biting to watch and even scarier to think about.

This film is about the launching of a missile (seemingly headed to Chicago) and the decisions that have to be made by the “powers that be” in terms of trying to save as many lives as possible. This film isn’t commandeered by the performances, but rather by the technical precision that is ever present in every scene within the movie. Volker Bertelmann’s chilling score adds greatly to making A House of Dynamite work significantly well as a thriller that is told in a three-part style which could frustrate viewers at first, but is still rather effective to telling the disturbing story that unfolds over the course of the picture.

This chilling movie opens with Rebecca Ferguson’s character, Captain Olivia Walker, going through the metal detectors at her job centered in the “Situation Room” and changing her shoes. As frightening events will become the fabric of the movie’s plot, Ferguson’s role in this picture is more of a device to humanly capture the scenario at the film’s center rather than one that plans to develop her character much beyond the bare essentials. And, that makes sense in the context of the movie.

A nuclear warhead is loose and many characters’ lives are intertwined in order to make the “correct” decision regarding the present and the future. This film essentially suggests that making that choice would be the most scary decision that a key group of human beings would ever have to make. Bigelow’s directing style re-enforces the terrifying situation through characters like Greta Lee’s Ana Park who is contacted for advice during a re-enactment of Gettysburg where she is with her child. This film uses this scenario as a parallel to events that are occurring within the plot.

There is an ever-reliable supporting cast present in the action. Gabriel Basso efficiently serves as Deputy National Security Advisor Jake Baerington, Tracy Letts is in top form as General Anthony Brady and Anthony Ramos is particularly effective as Major Daniel Gonzalez. There is a small problem, though. None of these characters take center stage in the action and it’s likely that Bigelow doesn’t want them to. Instead, they are devices in which to display the chain of command that would occur in the most scary situation one could ever imagine.

Idris Elba ably portrays the President of the United States who needs to make the final decision as to whether or not to fight back quickly before almost all is lost. Elba is well-cast in a role that allows the actor to provide the situation with the dignity and caution that is required for the President to make the difficult (and, hopefully, best) choice to try to preserve as many lives as possible.

Jared Harris delivers a heartbreaking performance as Secretary of Defense Reid Baker whose daughter, Caroline (Kaitln Dever), has just met a nice man and is ready to start a relationship as all hell is beginning to break loose. As Reid gets closer and closer to an answer to the dilemma at the film’s helm, he will ultimately make a very difficult and final choice regarding his own life.

Bigelow’s handling of the material is sensitive and the filmmaker doesn’t ever feel like she takes short cuts to getting to the core of the situation and following it through to its inevitable conclusion. Amplified by the film’s sure-to-be Oscar-nominated score, the images become so intense that they work on their own to move the story along. The characters are in the background as the military and political scenarios are examined from a visual, cinematic standpoint.

There is also the very powerful use of the Phil Collins song, “In the Air Tonight,” which helps build unbelievable suspense as Elba’s character is confronted with the formidable plot threads that the film presents to the viewer. Ferguson and Elba are the most prolific characters in the film, but are, as suggested, actually best seen as portals to present the film’s harrowing themes and the ending, in particular, will be hard to shake as the end credits finally arrive. Bigelow wisely leaves the final results to the imagination, making the vision that more frightening.  A House of Dynamite offers Bigelow’s film-making skills at their most complex and is a movie that is bone-chilling in its excesses.

Rating: 7.5/10

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