A House of Dynamite (15)
Directed by Kathryn Bigelow 
★★★★

FROM Academy-Award-winning film-maker Kathryn Bigelow comes another gripping and gritty political thriller which will chill you to the bone as it asks “what if...?”

A single, unattributed nuclear missile has been fired at the US, and a race ensues to establish who is responsible and how to respond. They only have 18 minutes to decide the fate of the world, and this is told in real time. The same 18 minutes are shown from three different perspectives: Fort Greely in Alaska, where the US missile defence system is based; Strategic Command (Stratcom), which controls the country’s nuclear arsenal; and the White House Situation Room. 

Directed by Bigelow and written by Emmy-award-winning writer and producer Noah Oppenheim, himself former president of NBC News, this is a high-tension race-against-time white-knuckle ride which asks the audience “What would you do?”

This is also third film in what Bigelow has apparently described as an “unofficial trilogy,” alongside The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty. 

With nine countries possessing nuclear weapons, and only three being members of Nato, this immersive drama explores the madness of how we live under the constant shadow of extermination, yet no-one speaks of it. The buck stops at the US president, played by Idris Elba, who is the only person who can make that split-second decision of whether or not to retaliate by launching the US’s nukes. 

This thriller’s star-studded cast, which also includes Rebecca Ferguson, Jared Harris, Anthony Ramos and Tracy Letts, delivers on all fronts, with realistic portrayals giving you chills. You are shown glimpses of their characters personal lives which humanises them. 

It is also reminiscent of the 2015 political thriller Eye in the Sky in the way they are faced with impossible moral and ethical choices.

What struck me is that everyone in this drama was good at their job and was qualified to do it. Elba’s Potus oozed integrity. And my thoughts throughout were, I pray this frightening scenario never unfolds during Trump’s administration or we will all be royally screwed.

This is a must-see movie.

In select cinemas October 3 and on Netflix October 24.