Warning: This article contains major spoilers for “A House of Dynamite.”
There are movies about the threat of nuclear annihilation, and then there’s “A House of Dynamite.” The Netflix original, chronicling the U.S. government’s response to (essentially) the end of the world, is unlike most others. Told from several different point of views following the discovery of a intercontinental missile headed for North America, the film brings director Kathryn Bigelow’s distinct grasp of realism to events that already feel horrifically real — especially for anyone who’s lived through the height of Cold War tensions, let alone recent history. So it should come as no surprise that the bleak thriller deals with some seriously heavy subject matter. Soldiers struggle to wrap their minds around the most existential of dangers, politicians rush to save as many lives as they possibly can, and all while everyday citizens have no idea what’s headed their way.
The most tragic of all the various subplots featured throughout “A House of Dynamite,” however, might revolve around the actions of Secretary of Defense Reid Baker. Portrayed with heartbreaking grace by character actor Jared Harris, the government official finds himself on the front lines of a top-to-bottom s*** show. After realizing the launch of a nuclear missile of unknown origins is headed towards the city of Chicago, Reid Baker is the one who finds himself in charge of the nation’s military might and tasked with advising the President (Idris Elba) on potential defense strategies. Oh, and all while knowing that his estranged daughter Caroline (Kaitlyn Devers) is currently in Chicago, blissfully unaware of what’s headed her way.
This storyline adds even more personal stakes to a globe-spanning scenario, thanks to Harris’ stoicism in the face of unimaginable horror. But it’s his ultimate fate — one that induced audible gasps from the audience during my screening — that adds to an unusual trend regarding multiple characters the actor has played. Here’s why his casting in “A House of Dynamite” was a subtle stroke of genius.
Read more: The Greatest Character Actors Of All Time, Ranked
A House of Dynamite follows a trend set by Mad Men and Chernobyl
Jared Harris as Valery Legasov seated in a tent in Chernobyl – Liam Daniel/HBO
If you need someone to play a weathered, intelligent, but ultimately doomed character with a sense of gravitas and quiet dignity, you get Jared Harris. “A House of Dynamite” makes full use of the performer’s talents, turning what could’ve been a stock government figure into a well-rounded individual who represents the humanity at the center of this narrative. While most everyone else in the film has the benefit of distance (either geographically or emotionally) from the events unfolding on their display screens and conference calls, Secretary of Defense Reid Baker has the most to lose as his young daughter remains in peril. When every effort to knock the missile out of the sky fails and it’s clear that Chicago is only moments away from getting wiped off the map, Baker numbly follows his security agents to the roof of a building in Washington, D.C. to be evacuated to safety … only to walk right off the edge and put a permanent end to his suffering.
As brutal and shocking as this is, fans of both HBO’s “Chernobyl” and AMC’s “Mad Men” probably should’ve seen this coming. In each of those acclaimed shows, Harris was cast as similarly tragic characters who end up taking their own lives in a fit of despair. In the case of the former, the extreme actions of Soviet chemist Valery Legasov come as a result of gross government negligence over the disastrous nuclear meltdown — and an act of resistance to force the truth to come out. In the latter, Harris’ accounting guru Lane Pryce hangs himself after being caught embezzling money and forced to resign in disgrace. The characters might not be directly analogous with Baker in “A House of Dynamite,” but there’s no mistaking the common threads linking each and every one of them. (Meanwhile, his mostly uplifting role as mathematical whiz and doomsday prophet Hari Seldon in “Foundation” stands in stark contrast.)
While it’s a stretch to say that “A House of Dynamite” is indebted to Harris’ previous roles, Harris’ performance certainly takes on deeper layers with the performer’s larger body of work in mind. The film is currently playing in limited theaters, ahead of its Netflix debut on October 24, 2025.
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Read the original article on SlashFilm.
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