An intercontinental ballistic missile has been launched at the United States, and the powers-that-be have 18 minutes to respond. That’s the portrait painted by A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE, the new film from Academy Award-winning director Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker, Zero Dark Thirty). Unfortunately, it’s not as far-fetched as we might hope.

Bigelow is a famously detail-oriented filmmaker, and A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE is no exception. “For me, film is an opportunity to explore worlds few people know anything about,” Bigelow tells Netflix. “It’s a journalistic approach to filmmaking, where the distinction between entertainment and information is fused and fluid.” Bigelow was in good company; the screenwriter of the film, Noah Oppenheim (Jackie, Zero Day), is a former journalist who served as president of NBC News from 2017 to 2023. “We did an extraordinary amount of research when we were preparing this film,” says Oppenheim. “I spoke to as many people as I could who've worked in these rooms, who've had these jobs.”

In examining the world of nuclear warfare, the production had assistance from a team of experts, including technical advisor Dan Karbler, a former army officer who previously served as STRATCOM chief of staff (a role he also plays in the film, opposite a star-studded cast). “Noah did a tremendous job on the script,” Karbler tells Netflix. “He obviously did a lot of research.” Karbler was able to fill in the empty spaces with firsthand knowledge — none of it classified, of course. 

He also provided insight into military jargon, including the many acronyms tossed around in briefing and situation rooms. “We use acronyms more than we probably use proper nouns any given day in the military,” Karbler says. “Because you get so used to it, it just becomes part of your lingo, part of your day-to-day language.” You can also find a glossary of the film’s military terms below. 

So how realistic is A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE? Below, Karbler fills us in on the facts behind the film. 

On the film’s realism: 
Karbler: Folks should realize that we actually practice many, many different scenarios in conducting nuclear operations, almost 400 a year between [STRATCOM] and the Pentagon, other combat commands, and other agencies. The last president to ever practice was President Reagan. Other presidents since then have never practiced. They all get briefed on the nuclear football and what the strike advisor has that we see in the movie, but they don't practice it. 

[The film] does such a good job of capturing a piece that we never really capture when we are running through these exercises — being able to see the human reaction, which we don’t practice. So what the movie really drives home, in addition to the authenticity about the process and all that, is just the human element and how different folks are affected, whether it’s those young soldiers at Fort Greely to the STRATCOM staff all the way up to the President of the United States.

On the film’s depiction of STRATCOM:
Karbler: STRATCOM is US Strategic Command, and that’s the headquarters for all of our nuclear operations that we do within the department. So all the bombers, all the ICBMs, all the nuclear submarines, all those operations are planned and conducted out of the US Strategic Command headquarters located at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska, which is just outside Omaha, Nebraska. 

We have things called battlegrams; you see them in the movie. You would pass battlegrams back and forth, kind of like in the old days of school when people would pass notes back and forth in the classroom. We pass battlegrams back and forth with pieces of pertinent information, and we would pass them up to the commander if he needed to have that information. In the movie, we would do the same thing, because we knew the script, we knew what kind of information that the commander would be talking about for the script. So you could start to even lead each other in terms of, “Hey, here’s some information that you’re going to need as part of your conference.”

On advising the film’s actors:
Karbler: Tracy Letts as a four-star general — he’s very natural. He had a commanding presence. I did not really have to coach him at all about how to have presence in a room, and how to have a four-star presence in a room. Every once in a while, I would just make a recommendation to him about, “Maybe say something in this manner,” or, “Here’s how you would interact with the staff.” 

When [Jared Harris] was playing the role as the secretary of defense in the movie, once in a while I would talk to him about, “Hey, here’s how the secretary would interact just within his office with his office staff.” Whether it was in the scene where some of his executives come in, his chief of staff comes in, how he would even sometimes look at the monitors. Again, Jared’s such a good actor. He didn’t need much at all from me, just more of really fine-tuning his role as the secretary.

[The Fort Greely team] reminded me so much of my kids. They reminded me so much of young soldiers. So just being able to teach them about, “Hey, here’s the processes, here’s how you would, you know, carry yourselves in these situations.” They just soaked it up like sponges. So it made my job really, really easy. The passion that they put into their characters was just fantastic.

On his first meeting to join the film:
Karbler: We set up this Zoom call. And I had an idea, so I left my camera off purposefully, and I’m watching everybody else pop in. There’s Kathryn, and [producer] Greg Shapiro, and I think [production designer] Jeremy Hindle was on there, and some other folks. They’re chatting. And there’s a little break in the conversation. 

At that point, I just clicked on my microphone and I said, “This is the DDO from the Pentagon, convening a special security conference. Classification of conference is top secret, TK, SI, polling US STRATCOM, US Northern Command, US Indo-Pacific Command, Secretary of Defense Cables, military assistant to the secretary of defense, SecDef Cables. Please bring the secretary of defense into the conference. Mr. Secretary, this is the DDO. Because of time constraints of this missile launch, recommend we transition immediately from a strategic security conference to a strategic deterrence conference. Please bring the president into the conference.” 

And I stopped there, and I clicked on the camera and I said, “Ladies and gentlemen, that’s how the worst day of America’s history will begin. I hope your script does it some justice.” Kathryn said, “Oh my God, that was fantastic. I want you in my movie.” So I was like, “Yes! I nailed my audition.”

On giving the filmmakers a tour of STRATCOM:
Karbler: I was able to get Kathryn and Greg and some other folks a meeting at the actual Strategic Command headquarters at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska. They got some background on the history of Strategic Command, and the use of nuclear weapons. And then they were able to go down and visit the actual battle deck. So they went X number of stories below ground — classified — and they were able to get a briefing on what STRATCOM does, and also then be able to see the set. It was really cool, because Jeremy Hindle was there, and he basically walked onto the set and said, “I nailed it.”

On how the film sparks a conversation about nuclear weapons: 
Karbler: The film does a tremendous job of helping further the national discussion that we should have about our strategic deterrent. For seven years, I worked in this space. We always tried to broaden the discussion to the national level about missile defense and about strategic deterrence, but it just never seemed to be able to break out of what I call the nuclear high priests, that small group of people who focus on strategic deterrence and nuclear operations, or the missile defense world. The hopes are that this is going to help formulate that national discussion and help engender that national discussion.

Glossary of terms

Joint Emergency Evacuation Plan (JEEP)

• A coordinated strategy developed by US government and military agencies to rapidly evacuate key personnel in the event of a national security crisis or imminent threat.

Ground-Based Interceptor (GBI)

• A ground-based component of a missile defense system that uses a three-stage rocket to launch an exoatmospheric kill vehicle (EKV) to destroy incoming intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). The EKV is designed to intercept and destroy ICBM warheads by colliding with them in space, outside Earth’s atmosphere. 

Continuity of Government (COG)

• Plans and measures to ensure that national leadership and command authority can survive and function during and after a nuclear attack.

Nuclear “Football” 

• The Presidential Emergency Satchel, which allows the President of the United States to remotely communicate and authorize the nation’s nuclear capabilities.

President of the United States, or POTUS (Idris Elba)

• The Commander-in-Chief, who has sole authority to authorize the use of nuclear weapons.

Secretary of Defense, or SECDEF (Jared Harris)

• The principal civilian leader of the Department of Defense, responsible for overseeing all US military forces and advising the president on defense policy

STRATCOM Commander (Tracy Letts)

• Senior military officer in charge of STRATCOM

Deputy National Security Advisor (Gabriel Basso)

• The second most senior staff member on the National Security Council (NSC). The Deputy may stand in for the National Security Advisor, the president’s principal advisor on national security, as needed.

SITROOM Senior Director (Jason Clarke)

• White House official overseeing the Situation Room (SITROOM) in charge of coordinating information flow, crisis management, operations and ensuring the president receives timely, accurate updates during national security crises. 

SITROOM Watch Floor Senior Duty Officer, or SDO (Rebecca Ferguson)

• The most senior officer responsible for supervising Watch Floor duty officers and ensuring effective and smooth operational communication with leadership.

Presidential Military Aide, or MILAIDE (Jonah Hauer-King)

• A military officer who accompanies the president at all times, maintaining custody of the nuclear football, and who provides immediate access to its contents should the president need to authorize a nuclear strike or initiate emergency protocols.

Fort Greely Crew Commander (Anthony Ramos)

• Military officer in charge of the secure command and control center responsible for managing the launch and operation of GBIs.

A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE is now streaming on Netflix.