A House of Dynamite

The whole story is told within 30-40 minutes. Then the same story is told 2 more times from different perspectives. And they come to no conclusion, no new information, nothing.

It's 3 times the same story with no added value.

They tried to do some artsy movie using the petal story structure, and utterly failed to deliver the whole point of a petal story structure.

The film unfolds from three different perspectives, with Bigelow experimenting with multiple angles, offering a complex and tense vision of the events. However, as each perspective unfolds, a sense of déjà vu begins to appear, and interest can wane slightly. At times, the repetition of tense moments makes the small details stand out more.

The first act is exceptionally well-crafted - it grabs you, builds tension perfectly, and makes you believe something truly extraordinary is about to happen. Bigelow creates a pressing atmosphere from the very first minutes, with carefully framed shots and a rhythm that keeps you engaged.

But by the second act, everything begins to unravel. The film becomes harder to follow, the initial tension fades, and the experimentation with perspectives and angles starts to feel more tiring than engaging. Overall, it comes across as an experimental film that fails to maintain its initial promise.

Zero Dark Thirty was about the past. The Hurt Locker wasn't about the Iraq War; it was about the protagonist's personal drama. This film, on the other hand, resonates through tension and fear, showing how people live with uncertainty and danger in the present.

It's not just a story about war or the threat of nuclear disaster, but about the emotions and decisions of people under extreme pressure.

PS: Don't rush to criticize it as a total failure - the director's intention and the concept itself are not bad at all. The only problem is that the next two perspectives don't reach the level of the first. Had they managed that, it could have been a 10/10 film.

Watching this film is like being told you've got takeout for dinner, only to end up with casserole.

I'm sure there was some underlying creative thoughts from the director with this story line but it wasn't clever nor smart. They had a great idea right in their palms and they threw it all away.

The ending of this film has to go down in history as one of the most frustrating endings in all of cinema. I've felt unsatisfied and in absolute disbelief. You almost feel cheated as you've become so invested in the story to only be let down right at the end! (and that's an understatement!).

It's worth watching but prepare for heartbreak.

A House of Dynamite presents the scenario of a nuclear strike against the United States better than A Sum of All Fears or any of its predecessors in the genre but, in the end, falls short of its potential.

The story's premise naturally puts forward a certain amount of tension and suspense in and of itself and the director has successfully delivered on these concepts in previous works. However, the narrative structure of the film takes much of the suspense out of its own story. Additionally, this structure cuts down the screen time of a number of characters and good actors ultimately leaving the viewer with a sense of some disappointment.

In the end, this is a decent movie that left a lot on the table.

The continual repetition of the original 20 min storyline took far too many Christopher Nolan-esque References for my liking.

The performances were all good, but knowing that this film isn't going to progress once you realise the ending in the first act left me feeling a little conned tbh. It's a shame because I think the drama up till then held my attention.