Saturday October 25, 2025 | VICTORIA, BC [Posted at 9:19 am PT | Updated 9:38 am PT]
Film news & review | by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
A film that got rave reviews at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival in September may now be bombing at the Netflix online streaming box office.
A House of Dynamite launched globally on Netflix last night and is listed as #1 in Movies on the streaming platform today.
However, the 1 hr 55 minute movie — set in the United States for an apocalyptic ‘thriller’ (nuclear bomb threat) — is badly formatted and has an ending that is, well, no ending at all.
It does lend some forced thought on the role of the US military in preventing a nuclear war and how people in political leadership and the military might react in real-time.
The president is styled after Obama (who was president 2008 to 2016) but the White House technology seems closer to current-day. The political take is interesting … casting shadow on North Korea but leaning with some goodwill toward Russia.
The rating for A House of Dynamite on Google (1,466 reviews) this morning is 2 out of 10. On IMBd the rating is 6.9 out of 10 (11,000 ratings).
As one online reviewer put it: “A Brain-Dead Script Wrapped in Fake Suspense … isn’t just a bad film – it’s a disgraceful example of lazy content created to fill Netflix’s endless catalog of disposable junk.”
Even in the reviews there is confusion about the plot (screenplay by Noah Oppenheim) — was it three different character views or tableaus, or four or six? The director Kathryn Bigelow clearly had a field day with technique over good-storytelling, to what end? Well, at least she got us talking about it.
The acting was pretty good, considering what they had to work with. No huge A-list Hollywood stars, but some thoughtful almost memorable performances without being overly dramatic.
One online reviewer does offer some redeeming value: “The movie does a very good job giving us a 360 degree perspective of having only 19 minutes for our military to respond defensively and force our government leaders to make an impossible decision with limited facts.”
Netflix Top 10 in Canada to Oct 24:
Meanwhile, up to October 24, these were the Netflix ‘Top 10’ Movies … presumably the ones with the most views.
- The Perfect Neighbour – police bodycam documentary
- Who Killed the Montreal Expos? – downfall of the first major league baseball team
- Migration (animated) – a family of ducks flocks from idyllic pond life into (mis)adventure
- The Elixir – Undead are unleashed in a small home town.
- Kpop Demon Hunters – protecting fans from supernatural threats.
- The Woman in Cabin 10 – a journalist is disbelieved about what she sees.
- The Twits (animated) – villains pull a trick to take over their town but children bring in magical animals to help.
- Law Abiding Citizen – man seeks vengeance for the murder of his wife and daughter.
- My Father the BTK Killer – true crime documentary
- 27 Nights – Judgement for a woman with carefree ways is admitted to a psychiatric clinic by her daughters.
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