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Why is the Pentagon disputing Netflix's 'A House of Dynamite'? Internal memo explained as the movie's director calls it "music to my ears"

'A House of Dynamite' has been at the center of attention on Netflix since its release on the platform last week. A memo from the Pentagon has only feuled it further.
posted by Akanksha Mishra
Wednesday 10/29/2025 at 7:32AM EDT
  • LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 04: (L to R) Susanne Bier, Idris Elba, Kathryn Bigelow, Greg Shapiro, Volker Bertelmann and Barry Ackroyd speak on stage during a Q&A at Kathryn Bigelow's "A House Of Dynamite" Special Screening at The Ham Yard Hotel on October 4, 2025 in London, England. (Photo by Max Cisotti/Dave Benett/Getty Images for Netflix)
    LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 04: (L to R) Susanne Bier, Idris Elba, Kathryn Bigelow, Greg Shapiro, Volker Bertelmann and Barry Ackroyd speak on stage during a Q&A at Kathryn Bigelow's "A House Of Dynamite" Special Screening at The Ham Yard Hotel on October 4, 2025 in London, England. (Photo by Max Cisotti/Dave Benett/Getty Images for Netflix)

    After its world premiere at the Venice International Film Festival in September 2025 and a limited theatre run earlier this month, A House of Dynamite (HoD) finally arrived on Netflix last Friday (October 24). 

    However, a government memo issued by the Pentagon has disputed some elements of the apocalyptic thriller drama for making false assumptions about the US defense system. 

    According to Deadline, the Pentagon released the memo on October 16, and it was first obtained by Bloomberg last week. 

    Mentioning one instance from the movie - where the military failed to stop a missile headed towards the continental US - the memo read that while it was okay as "a compelling part of the drama intended for the entertainment of the audience," the real-world capacities of the country's defense system "tell a vastly different story". 

    The interceptor missiles in A House of Dynamite are stated to have a 61% success rate in tackling any incoming warhead. It also depicts the failure of the ground-based interceptors (GBIs) to take out the threat headed towards greater Chicago, which results in the US military force being out of options. 

    However, the memo reads that the DoD's Missile Defense Agency's multibillion-dollar hit-to-kill systems have "displayed a 100% accuracy rate" consistently in a decade-long testing.

    When the Pentagon's memo was brought up with HoD's director Kathryn Bigelow in a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter (published October 28), her reaction to it was:

    "It’s interesting. In a perfect world, culture has the potential to drive policy — and if there’s dialogue around the proliferation of nuclear weapons, that is music to my ears, certainly."

    When Noah Oppenheim - the movie's screenwriter - was asked if the memo could threaten the movie's credibility, he maintained that they only depicted what they had learned from expert tech advisors, and stood by them. 

    ​

    A House of Dynamite has been trending at #1 on Netflix 

    Elsewhere in the THR interview, Bigelow was asked if the immediate success A House of Dynamite witnessed on Netflix had something to do with its theme, which was generally a hushed subject among the masses. 

    In her response, Bigelow said:

    "Very much so. It’s grappling with the idea that we’re surrounded by 12,000 (nuclear) weapons. We live in a really combustible environment, hence the title — we live in A House of Dynamite. The unthinkable — it’s time to address it and, in a perfect world, begin discussions about reducing the nuclear stockpile."

    Joining in on the discussion, Oppenheim praised the extent of Netflix's reach, which was beyond their "wildest expectations".

    TOPICS: Pentagon, A House of Dynamite


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