Netflix dropped the film A House of Dynamite last week, the latest project from Zero Dark Thirty and Point Break’s Kathryn Bigelow. Featuring an ensemble cast including Idris Elba and Rebecca Ferguson, the film shows the US government’s response after a nuclear missile is launched.
Now that the film’s been out for a few days, people have had the chance to check it out and share their opinions, and they vary wildly.
It’s not a huge surprise, as while we at Digital Spy called it “captivating” and “one of the best Netflix movies of the year”, we also said that the film is “annoying” by design.
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That’s because A House of Dynamite tells the same scenario multiple times from different perspectives, and doesn’t ever show the impact of the missile landing.
It looks like after the final perspective shift, viewers were hoping that it all come together to be something more than it was. On social media, it has led to people venting their frustrations and labelling it “unfinished” and a “waste” of their time, even from those who were really enjoying it before that.
Eros Hoagland/Netflix
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“Just waisted 2 hours of my life watching A House of Dynamite on Netflix,” one fan wrote. “I was glued to the TV, then with that ending I was praying the Nuke hit me. Has to be in the conversation for worst movie ending of all time.”
“I can’t believe I wasted two hours of my life watching A House of Dynamite on Netflix!” another agreed. “They made us watch what happened 3 different times, just for nothing to happen!! Everyone involved with this movie should be ashamed lol.”
A third said: “WTF did I just watch? That’s two f**king hrs of my life that I’m never getting back. No climax, in-fact no f**king ending at all, it just stops. It’s like they ran out of money & couldn’t finish the movie or they just couldn’t be arsed.”
“If you are looking forward to watching #AHouseOfDynamite don’t do it. Don’t do it. It’s a scenario from multiple points of view… and nothing happens. What a waste of time,” said another, while a fifth viewer wrote: “I had to go back and see if I missed something… it’s like they ran out of funding and said ‘f** it let’s still release it’.”
Netflix
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“It just stops. The movie is fkn good and the ending is the biggest cop out of all time,” someone else agreed, echoed by another: “No attack. No de-escalation. All build up, no pay off. Could have easily been the best movie of the year. Stumbled? No, stopped before the finishing line.”
It’s a similar sentiment over on Reddit, where one commenter felt like the film “just feels like an unfinished movie” while others agreed that nothing was as good as the “f**king electric” first segment.
“Would’ve been better if parts 1-3 all ended right before failure of the ‘bullet’ from the Alaska station, and then was edited together for the rest of the movie,” posited one particular viewer, and multiple people agreed it was a great idea.
There were those who just loved the film as it is, with one fan calling it “one of the scariest and most upsetting movies I’ve seen in a very long time” while a second dubbed it “about to witness one of the best movies of the year… Gripping from start to finish”.
A House of Dynamite is available on Netflix now.
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Joe Anderton is a freelance news writer at Digital Spy, having worked there since 2016. In his time, he’s covered a host of live events and interviewed celebrities big and small. A big fan of TV and movies both mainstream and obscure, Joe also enjoys video games and in particular PlayStation. Joe currently does not use Twitter, but he only ever used it to tell people to watch the film Help! I’m a Fish.