If you hated the ending to Netflix’s latest thriller, you’re not alone

Everyone is talking about Netflix’s new thriller A House of Dynamite, and for good reason. It’s the kind of film that grabs you by the throat in the first minute and doesn’t let go. It’s one of the many reasons to keep your Netflix subscription. Directed by Academy Award winner Kathryn Bigelow, the drama is about what might happen in government in the minutes before a stray nuclear weapon hits the United States.

This setup alone, which is explicit in the film’s engrossing trailer, is almost surely the reason A House of Dynamite has fast become the most-watched film on the streamer right now. Its cast, which includes a who’s who of Hollywood actors (such as Rebecca Ferguson, Idris Elba, and Jared Harris), is probably another.

There’s something else about the movie that’s making it newsworthy: its ending, which I’d say is one of the most controversial I’ve seen in an otherwise excellent film.

The following contains spoilers for A House of Dynamite.

The issue

An interesting way to tell the story

Bigelow (Hurt Locker, Zero Dark Thirty), along with screenwriter Noah Oppenheim, divides the 112-minute film into three segments, each presenting overlapping perspectives from different key government officials responding to an escalating missile threat. Each segment starts and ends at the same two points. The clock resets. The panic doesn’t. By the time the third act begins, you’re not breathing — you’re waiting for impact.

With this unique plot device, each segment reaches its peak, then the screen goes dark. The first time this happens comes as a complete surprise — unless you’re reading an article like this. The second time is less surprising, but no less nerve-racking. When the third and final segment begins, most viewers are on the edge of their seats waiting for a resolution.

And then it doesn’t come, at least not in the way most would expect. Like many films over the years, such as No Country for Old Men, A Serious Man, and The Mist, the story concludes without a clear resolution to the central conflict.

The ambiguity isn’t laziness; it’s the point. Bigelow and Oppenheim want you to feel the chaos of uncertainty, the paralysis of power when there are no right answers.

A deliberate ending

It makes sense — when you think about it

Credit: Netflix

As Oppenheim told The Hollywood Reporter, the unresolved ending of A House of Dynamite, which stars Rebecca Ferguson, Idris Elba, Jared Harris, among many others, is designed not to “give anyone an easy out or tie it up with a bow.” Bigelow, who says many of her films start with a question, concurs, noting that “the film in itself poses a question that then gives the audience an opportunity to answer.”

In other words, Bigelow isn’t after closure; she’s after confrontation.

I’m not going to give away the ending of A House of Dynamite or tell you the central question that goes unanswered. What I will say, however, is that I felt somewhat robbed when the film ended, and you might, too. And yet, in the days since watching the film, I can now better appreciate the ending and understand why the creators chose to end it this way.

Should you still watch A House of Dynamite?

There’s only one answer to this

Credit: Netflix

The cinema industry has created many films over the years that depict the dangerous situation of having nuclear weapons in the world. Fictional films like A House of Dynamite exist alongside those like Thirteen Days, which are based on authentic historical events. Whether the story is based on truth or is fictional, each of these stories demonstrates that a nuclear missile attack would pose an immediate threat to the current world order.

The film A House of Dynamite delivers an original, intense portrayal of the terrifying events that precede a potential missile launch. The film demonstrates the complete breakdown of order and fear that our leaders are likely to experience when time is running out, as they must decide between survival and disaster. Furthermore, the film shows how dangerous situations create profound psychological effects on leaders who must make crucial choices. In doing so, the film forces viewers to evaluate both the political consequences of nuclear war and human behavior under extreme conditions.

A House of Dynamite doesn’t hand over easy catharsis. Rather, it detonates it. You may walk away unsettled, maybe even angry, but that’s what makes it linger. For all its tension and terror, Bigelow’s latest is less about a bomb than about the quiet collapse that happens before one falls.

Experience the gripping ride

This film ultimately succeeds because it refuses to reassure you. It creates a space where you can experience the same feeling of helplessness as its characters do while waiting for what will happen. The movie’s ending will anger some, including this reviewer, but it creates a superior film than your average disaster movie.

It’s time for you to watch it, arguably one of the best films on Netflix. Once you get past it, try some Netflix comedies that never get old for a change of pace.