US EditionKathryn Bigelow defends authenticity of ‘House of Dynamite’ after Pentagon criticism
The Netflix film, viewed by over 22 million in three days, portrays U.S. missile defense as 50% effective, sparking debate between filmmakers and Pentagon officials.
- On October 25, 2025, the Missile Defense Agency issued an October 16 internal memo criticizing A House of Dynamite's portrayal of missile defenses as 50 percent effective, and that memo was leaked to Bloomberg, while the film topped Netflix with more than 20 million accounts in its first three days.
- Kathryn Bigelow and Noah Oppenheim built the film from extensive research, noting experts who recently worked in government and declining Pentagon cooperation to preserve independence.
- The Pentagon counters that its systems 'have displayed a 100% accuracy rate in testing for more than a decade,' disputing the film's depiction of about 50 percent effectiveness, as outside experts and Bigelow/Oppenheim suggest, with Laura Grego calling the scenario 'about as easy as they come.'
- The filmmakers say the movie is engaging policymakers and experts, with U.S. Senator Edward J. Markey, journalists Tom Nichols and Fred Kaplan, retired general Douglas Lute, and the APS confirming its accuracy.
- Filmmakers reported that at least one START Treaty negotiator has seen the movie twice and hopes it influences treaty talks, while Kathryn Bigelow told The Hollywood Reporter on October 29 that culture can drive policy.
8 Articles
8 Articles
Madrid. Recently the Pentagon was speaking about A house full of dynamite, a film that arrived in Netflix last week. In an internal memorandum, the Missile Defense Agency (MDA), he explained that the tape did not show the actual effectiveness of the defense system, ensuring that its accuracy was 100 percent, and not 50 percent as in the film. Now, the director and screenwriter have responded, defending the film’s veracity.
Kathryn Bigelow defends authenticity of ‘House of Dynamite’ after Pentagon criticism
Kathryn Bigelow, the filmmaker who recently debuted “A House of Dynamite,” responded to criticism from the Pentagon after portions of the movie alleged that the country’s nuclear weapon detection systems can only stop a threat 50 percent of the time. In response to the film, the Pentagon distributed an internal memo slamming its veracity. Defense…
Retired SMDC boss brings real-world nuclear command experience to Netflix thriller
When "A House of Dynamite" -- the new Nextflix nuclear thriller -- began preparing to shoot scenes depicting U.S. Strategic Command, director Kathryn Bigelow wanted every blinking light, console switch and dialogue to ring true. The man she called to make that happen was retired Lt. Gen. Daniel Karbler, an affable Midwesterner who had spent nearly four decades inside the U.S. missile defense enterprise -- and, as it happened, once held the exact…
Bigelow Defends Nuke Thriller After Pentagon Pushback
Kathryn Bigelow has responded to criticism from the Pentagon regarding her new Netflix film, A House of Dynamite , which dramatizes a failed US response to a nuclear strike. The director is defending the movie's portrayal of missile defense systems. She tells the Hollywood Reporter that her movies, including Zero Dark...
Coverage Details
Bias Distribution
- 67% of the sources lean Left
Factuality
To view factuality data please Upgrade to Premium
