The Kathryn Bigelowhelmed film begins with a single, unattributed missile being launched at the United States. A House of Dynamite is 'wakeup call' for U.S. vul

The Kathryn Bigelow-helmed film begins with a single, unattributed missile being launched at the United States.

A House of Dynamite is 'wake-up call' for U.S. vulnerability to nuclear attack, senator warns

The Kathryn Bigelow-helmed film begins with a single, unattributed missile being launched at the United States.

By Lauren Huff

Lauren Huff

Lauren Huff is an award-winning journalist and staff writer at ** with over 12 years of experience covering all facets of the entertainment industry.

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October 28, 2025 11:10 p.m. ET

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Rebecca Ferguson as Captain Olivia Walker in 'A House of Dynamite'. Credit:

Eros Hoagland/Netflix

The nuclear thriller film *A House of Dynamite* is not simply good entertainment — it should serve as a massive wake-up call, U.S. Sen. Edward J. Markey warns.

The Kathryn Bigelow-helmed film, which stars Rebecca Ferguson, Idris Elba, Anthony Ramos, Gabriel Basso, Greta Lee, and Jared Harris, begins with a single, unattributed missile being launched at the United States. It then follows the president (played by Elba) and the government officials who must use the little time they have left to attempt to shoot down the missile before it hits Chicago.

"The film exposes a brutal truth that too many decision-makers and policy experts in Washington refuse to admit: Long-range missile defense will not protect us. Our only real path to escape nuclear catastrophe lies in reducing global arsenals," Markey argues in an op-ed for MSNBC published Monday.

Idris Elba as POTUS in 'A House of Dynamite'.

Eros Hoagland/Netflix

Markey praises Bigelow's film for its depiction of the issue, which he says "dispels the comforting illusion that technology can shield us from a nuclear attack." Markey points out a scene in which Harris' character is shocked at the current system in place, crying out, "So it's a f---ing coin toss? That's what $50 billion buys us?" He then answers the fictional character's question, writing, "Yes. In scripted tests, U.S. missile defenses against intercontinental weapons have succeeded only about 55 percent of the time — under ideal conditions, with known targets, no decoys and perfectly timed launches. Real war introduces deception, saturation attacks and human failures. The system is brittle. A 'silver bullet' defense is a fantasy."

Long-range defenses don't work, he argues; in fact, they make it harder to reduce the nuclear threats we face, he writes. Instead of "investing even more in the fool's gold of missile defense, such as by spending trillions on President Donald Trump's delusional Golden Dome," Markey says, the U.S. should work towards "deep and verifiable reductions in nuclear arsenals."

'A House of Dynamite' ending explained: Who launched the nuclear missile?

Idris Elba and Rebecca Ferguson race to stop a nuclear attack in new trailer for Kathryn Bigelow's 'A House of Dynamite'

Markey ends his op-ed by saying the U.S. should "heed" *A House of Dynamite *as "testimony" instead of "mere entertainment," and puts forth his ideas for policies moving forward.

"We must reengage on arms control with not just Russia, but also China," he writes. "We must revive diplomatic initiatives with North Korea, Iran and other nuclear aspirants. And we must constrain tactical stockpiles in Europe and Asia. The only nuclear defense worth believing in is disarmament — rooted in treaties, inspections and verification. Every warhead removed is one less we need to fear."

The MSNBC op-ed comes on the heels of Bloomberg publishing an internal memo from the Pentagon reportedly disputing the film's accuracy. In it, the Missile Defense Agency said in part: "The fictional interceptors in the movie miss their target and we understand this is intended to be a compelling part of the drama intended for the entertainment of the audience," but results from real-world testing "tell a vastly different story," namely that current missile defense systems "have displayed a 100 percent accuracy rate in testing for more than a decade."

In a different interview, also with MSNBC, the film's writer Noah Oppenheim responded to these claims, saying the filmmakers "respectfully disagree" with the Pentagon memo's assessment of the film.

Anthony Ramos as Major Daniel Gonzalez in 'A House of Dynamite'.

Eros Hoagland/Netflix

"I'm not a missile defense expert, but I did talk to many missile defense experts who were all on the record," Oppenheim said, adding, "We just asked them a ton of questions. How does it work? What are the processes? What are the procedures? So what you see on screen is hopefully a fairly accurate portrait of the reality that exists."

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Oppenheim did note that he and Bigelow did not talk to current White House or Pentagon officials, but "it's all out there in the public domain."**

He continued: "Unfortunately, our missile defense system is highly imperfect. If the Pentagon wants to have a conversation about improving it or what the next step might be in keeping all of us safer, that's exactly the conversation we want to have. But what we show in the movie is accurate."

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