A Bulletin resource guide to viewing ‘A House of Dynamite’

(Contains spoilers).

Have you watched A House of Dynamite? If so, you may have some lingering questions.

The new film, directed by Kathryn Bigelow and released on Netflix October 24, is a tense, fast-paced look at what could happen if the United States was faced with an unattributed missile launch aimed at the major city.

The military system that attempted to take down the missile—what was it, exactly? That line about how “$50 billion gets us a coin toss”—how much is the United States actually spending on its nuclear arsenal and missile defense systems? What would really happen if you were in Chicago—or the rest of the United States, or the world for that matter—during a nuclear attack?

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has been publishing expert journalism and analysis on nuclear weapons issues since 1945. Here are some recent articles on the issues that make A House of Dynamite a powerful reminder of what could happen if, one day, a nuclear missile launch wasn’t just a test.

Bulletin Coverage

A conversation with Kathryn Bigelow, director of ‘A House of Dynamite,’ and screenwriter Noah Oppenheim

By John Mecklin | October 23, 2025

“I’d like to see people decide they don’t want to live in a world that’s this volatile or this combustible. And then of course, the next step is to reach out to their representatives and try to, you know, create a movement.” —Kathryn Bigelow

A radical act of cinematic restraint: How to understand the ending of ‘A House of Dynamite’

By Emily Faux | November 6, 2025

In the film’s ending, “A House of Dynamite confronts the same question that has shadowed nuclear culture for decades: What does it mean to imagine the unimaginable?”

Box office bombs: What I learned watching 20 nuclear films in a month

By Rebecka Green | November 3, 2025

“In the span of 30 days leading up to the release of A House of Dynamite, I watched over 20 films about nuclear weapons, an unwieldy experience that taught me several valuable lessons. For example, firing up Threads at 10:00 AM on a Tuesday morning can remind a person about the importance of a well-rounded, but not too heavy, breakfast.”

The ‘House of Dynamite’ sequel you didn’t know you needed

By Patricia Jaworek and Isabelle Williams | October 31, 2025

“Let us assume that the missile carried a several-hundred-kiloton (kt) nuclear warhead—many times more powerful than the 15-kt bomb the United States used to destroy Hiroshima—and detonated directly above Chicago’s Loop, the dense commercial and financial core of the nation’s third-largest city. What would ensue in the seconds, minutes, days, and months that follow, and how far would the effects ripple across the region, nation, and beyond?”

What we should be talking about after watching Bigelow’s ‘A House of Dynamite’ nuclear thriller

By Mark Goodman | October 25, 2025

“Damage limitation in nuclear war is fundamentally a mirage.”

‘A House of Dynamite’: Bigelow’s latest thriller shows why nuclear bombs are only part of the danger

By Erik English | October 9, 2025

“All of the events portrayed in A House of Dynamite could happen at any moment—today, even. And that’s the point.”

Nuclear Command and Control – from the “football” to presidential sole authority

Military-trained Americans’ trust in the president’s nuclear launch authority dropped during Iran Crisis. Here’s why it matters.

By Charli Carpenter, Grace Bernheart, Joseph Mara, Zahra Marashi | July 18, 2025 

“[…] our data showed that contrary to popular belief, the nuclear taboo may actually be strengthening in an era of resurgent nuclear brinksmanship—if not among political elites, then among members of the military who would be in a position to actually launch such a weapon.”

Memo to Trump: Modify the US policy of sole authority to launch nuclear weapons

By Lisbeth Gronlund | January 17, 2025 

“The United States should adopt a better approach that avoids placing this responsibility on one person, take advantage of the wisdom and perspective of other officials, and reduce the risk of nuclear war. The global community would welcome a US policy that does not rely on just one person to decide to use nuclear weapons.”

How a nuclear attack order is carried out now

By Lisbeth Gronlund, David Wright | January 23, 2018

“If the president is not at the White House or other location with secure communication, he or she would use the so-called nuclear football to order the use of nuclear weapons. The football, or Presidential Emergency Satchel, is a briefcase containing various items, including a book laying out various attack options, from striking a small number of military targets to launching an all-out attack against Russian nuclear forces, military installations, leadership facilities, military industry, and economic centers.” 

For more on nuclear command and control, read: “A VR journey into the nuclear bunker offers chilling lessons on US nuclear policy,” by Susan D’Agostino, “An expert proposal: How to limit presidential authority to order the use of nuclear weapons,” by Lisbeth Gronlund, David Wright, and Steve Fetter.

What happens during a nuclear attack?

Nowhere to hide: How a nuclear war would kill you—and almost everyone else.

By François Diaz-Maurin | October 20, 2022

 “If you are lucky not to be within the blast radius of one of those, it may not ruin your day, but soon enough, it will ruin your whole life.”

Counting the dead at Hiroshima and Nagasaki

By Alex Wellerstein | Aug 4, 2020

“How many people died as a result of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki? There is one thing that everyone who has tackled this question has agreed upon: The answer is probably fundamentally unknowable. The indiscriminate damage inflicted upon the cities, coupled with the existing disruptions of the wartime Japanese home front, means that any precise reckoning is never going to be achieved. But beginning in 1945, people have tried to estimate the number of the dead and injured.”

This is not a drill: Lessons from the false Hawaiian missile alert

By Kristyn Karl, Ashley Lytle | January 10, 2019

“Thirty-eight minutes of sheer panic. That is what many Hawaiians experienced nearly one year ago when they received this startling alert: ‘BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.’ The alert was sent on January 13, 2018 in the midst of growing tensions between North Korea and the United States.”

Dawn of a new Armageddon

By Cynthia Lazaroff | August 6, 2018

“The thought never crosses my mind that we might have just a few minutes before we are hit, that Bruce might not be able to get to Kapa’a and back quickly … that I might never see him or the girls again. I don’t think about what I should absolutely know, what Bruce discovers when he pulls out on the highway: There are already terrified people driving 90-to-100 miles an hour, racing to find shelter or to spend their last few minutes with loved ones.”

For more on what happens during a nuclear threat, read: “A reminder from Hawaii,” by Lauren J. Borja and M.V. Ramana.

Missile Defense 

(Note: The missile defense system seen in the film is a Ground Based Interceptor, or GBI. Some of the following articles focus on other systems that similarly aim to “shoot a bullet with a bullet”—such as the proposed Golden Dome for the United States.) 

The 15-minute interview: Joe Cirincione on Golden Dome and the long-running US missile defense debacle

By John Mecklin | May 22, 2025 

“I think national missile defense is the longest-running scam in the history of the Department of Defense. And what the Trump administration has now done is to revive an old, discredited idea, pump it full of new expectations, and market it as an instant fix to America’s vulnerability to ballistic missiles. […] Trump claims it’s only going to cost $175 billion, and it’ll be all done by the end of his term. Which is insane.”

US ballistic missile defenses, 2019

By Matt Korda, Hans M. Kristensen | October 31, 2019 

“Missile defense systems can have a significant effect on nuclear weapons postures, the strategy for their potential use, and crisis stability and international security. The defenses don’t even have to work very well; the uncertainty that they might work, or could become more capable in the future, are enough to trigger the effect.” 

For more on US missile defense: “The national missile defense fantasy—again,” by Joe Cirincione, “Golden Dome and arms control: impediment or opportunity?” by Pranay Vaddi and John K. Warden, “Trump wants denuclearization but pursues a ‘Golden Dome’ of missile defense. Here’s why he can’t have both,” by Celia McDowall and Ankit Panda.

Nuclear Budgets

Nuclear expert Jon Wolfsthal on the costs of US nuclear weapons programs spiraling out of control 

By François Diaz-Maurin | May 29, 2025

“Now, fast forward to the [April] report by the Congressional Budget Office, not only is $1 trillion low for a 30-year estimate, but we’re going to spend a trillion dollars in 10 years, because all of these programs turned out to be vastly more complicated and vastly more expensive.”

DOGE’s staff firing fiasco at the nuclear weapon agency means everything but efficiency

By Stephen Young | April 16, 2025

“Creating chaos in an agency responsible for the safety and security of nuclear weapons is already concerning; the early DOGE firing plan and any new layoffs are very inefficient ways to save taxpayers’ money. According to DOGE, the average salary of the Energy Department’s staff, including the NNSA, is $116,739. If the 500 “nonessential” employees are laid off and all those initially let go were not rehired, it would save approximately $79 million—or about one-third of a percent of the NNSA’s $25 billion budget.”

Congress will hold a hearing about the Sentinel missile’s exploding budget, but is it too little, too late? 

By Chloe Shrager | June 14, 2024

“The Sentinel was chosen in large part for its supposed cost-effectiveness, but its price has skyrocketed since initial cost analyses: It nearly doubled in size from its original projections of $62.3 billion back in 2015 to over $130 billion today. That total is almost as much as what is planned to be spent on Medicaid health services for low income families over the next 10 years.” 

For more on US nuclear budgets, read “A game plan for dealing with the costly Sentinel missile and future nuclear challenges,” by Stephen J. Cimbala and Lawrence J. Korb,  “Another reason to cancel the Sentinel missile: the rising cost of its nuclear warhead,” by Stephen Young, “Is America buying nuclear weapons to win a war or to prevent one?” by Jack O’Doherty, “Why is America getting a new $100 billion nuclear weapon?” by Elisabeth Eaves.

Global Nuclear Capabilities

There are currently nine countries with nuclear weapons: the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, China, India, Pakistan, North Korea, and Israel. You can learn more about all of their nuclear arsenals via the Nuclear Notebook, written by the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists. Below are some recent entries relevant to A House of Dynamite.

United States nuclear weapons, 2025

By Hans M. Kristensen, Matt Korda, Eliana Johns, Mackenzie Knight-Boyle | January 13, 2025

“In this issue of the Nuclear Notebook, we estimate that the United States maintains a stockpile of approximately 3,700 warheads—an unchanged estimate from the previous year.”

Russian nuclear weapons, 2025

By Hans M. Kristensen, Matt Korda, Eliana Johns, Mackenzie Knight-Boyle | May 13, 2025

“In this issue of the Nuclear Notebook, we estimate that Russia now possesses approximately 4,309 nuclear warheads for its strategic and non-strategic nuclear forces.”

Chinese nuclear weapons, 2025

By Hans M. Kristensen, Matt Korda, Eliana Johns, Mackenzie Knight-Boyle | March 12, 2025

“In this issue of the Nuclear Notebook, we estimate that China now possesses approximately 600 nuclear warheads, with more in production to arm future delivery systems.”

North Korean nuclear weapons, 2024

By Hans M. Kristensen, Matt Korda, Eliana Johns, Mackenzie Knight-Boyle | July 15, 2024

“In this Nuclear Notebook, the authors cautiously estimate that North Korea may have produced enough fissile material to hypothetically build up to 90 nuclear warheads, but has likely assembled fewer than that—potentially around 50.”

Nuclear Movies 

A House of Dynamite joins a long history of films on the nuclear threat. To learn more, sign up for the Bulletin‘s email course on Atomic Cinema. You can also explore the Bulletin special magazine issue on ‘Oppenheimer’, released July 2023.

Facing nuclear reality, 35 years after The Day After

By Dawn Stover

“The Day After was a piercing wakeup shriek, not just for the general public but also for then-President Ronald Reagan. Shortly after he saw the film, Reagan gave a speech saying that he, too, had a dream: that nuclear weapons would be ‘banished from the face of the Earth.'”

An extended interview with Christopher Nolan, director of Oppenheimer

By John Mecklin | July 17, 2023

“I believe you see in the Oppenheimer story all that is great and all that is terrible about America’s uniquely modern power in the world. It’s a very, very American story.”

Stanley Kubrick’s doomsday machine and ‘Dr. Stangelove’

“In 1960, as nuclear-armed B-52 bombers continuously flew on high alert above the U.S., film director Stanley Kubrick read about “Red Alert,” an intriguing novel reviewed in the Bulletin.”