Key Takeaways

• The film follows a U.S. president (played by Idris Elba) navigating a nuclear crisis in real time.
• Kathryn Bigelow returns to directing with a focus on systemic failure and decision-making under pressure.
• A House of Dynamite premieres on Netflix Oct. 24 following a limited theatrical release.

Following a cryptic teaser, Netflix released the official trailer for A House of Dynamite, the latest feature from Academy Award–winning director Kathryn Bigelow. The political thriller, which stars Idris Elba as the U.S. president, dramatizes a sudden nuclear-missile attack on American soil and the government’s desperate attempt to respond.

The film marks Bigelow’s first major project since Detroit in 2017 and continues her exploration of military and political crises, following The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty. Written by Noah Oppenheim, the story centers on civilian and military officials forced to make split-second decisions in the face of global catastrophe. Elba’s commander-in-chief is joined on-screen by Rebecca Ferguson, Jason Clarke, Gabriel Basso, Jared Harris, Anthony Ramos, and Moses Ingram, among others.

In the trailer, which premiered on Thursday (Sept. 25), Elba’s character — only heard and not seen in the two-minute clip — reflected on deterrence: “If they see how prepared we are, no one starts a nuclear war.” That confidence quickly unraveled as a missile was launched toward the United States, setting off chaos at the highest levels of government. Bigelow said during the film’s Venice Film Festival premiere that her focus was on the framework itself rather than a defined enemy. “The antagonist is the system we’ve built to essentially end the world on a hair trigger,” she explained.

The Venice premiere also included comments from Elba, who described the experience of filming as “ultrarealistic,” comparing the process to simultaneously acting and living through a documentary. Bigelow emphasized that her intent was not to deliver policy prescriptions but to immerse audiences in the intensity of decision-making during an unprecedented crisis. “We invite the audience into the room,” she said. “What would we do? What would I do?”

A House of Dynamite release dates and global rollout

Produced by Greg Shapiro, Bigelow, and Oppenheim, A House of Dynamite is scheduled to be released in phases. The film opens in select U.K. theaters on Oct. 3, followed by a global theatrical run beginning Oct. 10. It will then premiere worldwide on Netflix Oct. 24.