Nuclear Expert Defends Netflix's A House Of Dynamite Amid Pentagon Criticism

Netflix's A House of Dynamite sparked a lot of conversation about its accuracy and ending, but nuclear expert Dr. Emma Belcher is in defense of the movie's depiction of a catastrophic event. Hailing from Oscar winner Kathryn Bigelow and Zero Day co-creator Noah Oppenheim, the film sees the United States government learn of an intercontinental ballistic missile heading for Chicago and their efforts to stop it while also determine whether to retaliate against any country.

Featuring a star-studded cast led by Rebecca Ferguson, Idris Elba and Anthony Ramos, A House of Dynamite garnered largely positive reviews from critics and audiences for its pacing, tension and performances. However, the movie wasn't without its detractors, either, as its abrupt ending with no conclusive answer to the missile's launch or explosion left some frustrated, while its depiction of the country's missile defense systems was also called into question.

Now, in an interview with ScreenRant's Grant Hermanns to discuss Fallout season 2, Dr. Emma Belcher shared her thoughts on A House of Dynamite's critiques. The nuclear expert — who is also the President of the nuclear deterrence organization Ploughshares — began by saying "it was pretty realistic" to her own experiences and studies in the field, while also acknowledging there are other experts "who've been working on this for a decade and will quibble" with parts that they feel aren't "quite accurate."

For Dr. Belcher, she finds that the specific details of accuracy are "not the point" of what a film like A House of Dynamite is trying to convey, but rather that "these are possible, plausible scenarios that could happen." She went on to praise Bigelow and Oppenheim for capturing the "terrifying" feeling of how "little time" government figureheads like the President of the United States have to "figure out what's going on" and make a decision with "little information":

Dr. Emma Belcher: It's a highly stressful situation, and misinterpreting or making a wrong decision could be catastrophic for the world. It's a reminder that it's so important to prevent ourselves from getting to that place in the first place, and we are really not doing enough right now to prevent that. For me, as someone who works on this day in and day out, I still felt stressed watching that movie because I know this is possible.

Dr. Belcher went on to share that films like A House of Dynamite are important to "really bring it back home" just how dangerous the nuclear landscape is in global politics, especially as the general public "can desensitize ourselves to these things" by tuning out the news. By offering "highly terrifying" looks at when a situation can escalate, it can "make you feel something" and come to realize "we don't want to stay with the status quo":

Dr. Belcher: I really applaud these pop culture moments as a way for everybody to understand the risks and be involved in thinking about an effective solution.

A House of Dynamite's two biggest points to draw criticism from other experts, and the Pentagon itself, were the actual likelihood of its plot and the numbers the film uses when denoting the potential inefficiency of the Ground Based Interceptor system used by the Missile Defense Agency. In the movie, it's stated that the GBI is only 61% effective at defending against missiles, to which the MDA came out stating that they had an official record of 100% success. Oppenheim defended that the movie's figure came from publicly available data that they've only had 57% success.

Interestingly, A House of Dynamite isn't the only major Netflix project of late to find itself targeted by the US government for criticisms regarding its accuracy. The critically acclaimed Boots, which was recently cancelled after just one season, was lambasted for being "woke garbage" with its depiction of homosexuality in the military and its illegality, despite being set in the 1990s after the institution of the "Don't ask, don't tell" policy. This public pushback even led to a spike in viewership for the series, even if not enough to garner a season 2 renewal.

Related

House Of Dynamite's Ambiguous Ending Left The Cast With Very Different Theories

The cast of Netflix's House of Dynamite weigh in on the movie's ambiguous ending and share their different theories on what happens in the thriller.

To Dr. Belcher's point, whether the deeper specifics of A House of Dynamite's facts were accurate is not as much the point as the very real possibility of the film's story happening. Tensions between the US and other nations are once again at an all-time high, and with some in possession of nuclear weapons, highlighting a potentially flawed defense system and necessity for communication among leaders is what's far more important.

More importantly, in giving audiences this warning in a tense, concise 112-minute film, A House of Dynamite works to get more audiences actively involved in looking into organizations like Dr. Belcher's Ploughshares and supporting their efforts to eliminate the threat of nuclear weapons in the world.

Release Date October 10, 2025

Runtime 113 minutes

Director Kathryn Bigelow

Writers Noah Oppenheim

Producers Greg Shapiro, Kathryn Bigelow, Noah Oppenheim

• 
• 

  Rebecca Ferguson

  Captain Olivia Walker