I saw this “brilliantly entertaining” Netflix movie in the cinema –now you can watch at home

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Last weekend I headed to Picturehouse Central, here in London, which is basically the one place you can reliably catch Netflix’s movies when it briefly puts them in cinemas. It doesn’t do that very often, of course, but those films it aims to give awards consideration to need to be released for eligibility reasons, so they get limited runs. I watched A House of Dynamite, the Kathryn Bigelow thriller that you can now watch on Netflix in the comfort of your own home, and came away fairly stunned.

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Bigelow is a really interesting filmmaker, and her military movies have been conversation-starters for ages, not least the superb, nuanced The Hurt Locker, which won her the Oscar for Best Director. So, the fact that she can do the same sort of ground-level stuff in a more situation room-esque setting isn’t a huge surprise.

A House of Dynamite has a really simple central premise, which helps make it extremely easy to follow – it looks at the roughly half-hour of time that might unfold from the moment when the US’ early warning systems detect an incoming intercontinental ballistic missile heading towards its mainland. We get to see this period more than once, from different viewpoints, as professionals trained for this moment are forced to deal with the shattering fact that it’s actually happening.

It’s one of the tensest movies I can remember watching in a long time, and I certainly felt like it justified my decision to see it in a cinema, but I’m equally confident that it can give viewers a superb experience at home – after all, it’s not an explosive mega-blockbuster full of action. Rather, it’s a frantic but largely office-bound affair that involves a whole heap of conference calls.

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I’m not the only one, either – reviews have been really positive for the film, starting in the 90s before its Rotten Tomatoes score settled at a slightly harsh 80%. Big-name outlets like Empire wrote that the film is “brilliantly entertaining”, and I think some others are actually underselling it a little.

Whatever you end up thinking, you’ll need to watch it to find out – and the good news for you is that Netflix is pushing quite hard. Open the app or its homepage and you’re liable to see the movie right at the top of the page, since it’s a big release. I really recommend checking it out, but be warned: this isn’t a film to calm you down if you’re already feeling a bit highly-strung.