Kathryn Bigelow's A House of Dynamite (2025) concludes with a suspenseful and ominous note and leaves audiences across the globe speculating about what choice the President finally makes. Written by Noah Oppenheim, this is Bigelow's return to the political thriller genre since Zero Dark Thirty and The Hurt Locker, and is set to examine how one nuclear incident can drive the U.S. government mad.A House of Dynamite opened in the main competition section of the 82nd Venice International Film Festival on September 2, 2025, before it was released in limited U.K. Theaters on October 3 and in the United States on October 10. It then premiered worldwide on Netflix from October 24, 2025. Starring Idris Elba, Rebecca Ferguson, Gabriel Basso, Jared Harris, Tracy Letts, and Greta Lee among others, the movie depicts the panic, the politics, and the impossible decisions that ensue after a mysterious missile is aimed towards the United States.In A House of Dynamite, the ending leaves the President’s decision unknown as the film cuts to black just before he chooses whether to retaliate or stand down, symbolizing the uncertainty and fear of global crisis.What happens in A House of Dynamite?A House of Dynamite (Image Via Netflix)A House of Dynamite starts off in Fort Greely, Alaska, where Major Daniel Gonzalez (Anthony Ramos) and his crew sense an unknown intercontinental ballistic missile. They initially think it's a drill, but soon they acknowledge that the missile is real, and it's on its way to Chicago. The news triggers a national crisis, allowing the government only 18 minutes to act before millions of lives are killed.Captain Olivia Walker (Rebecca Ferguson) is the head of the White House team watching in Washington. They communicate with the President (Idris Elba) and the military officials via a secure videoconference. Anti-ballistic interceptors are fired but go off course, and the clock continues to tick. Confusion fills the air as world powers such as Russia and North Korea distance themselves from the attack, leaving the United States without a confirmed enemy and no direction to proceed.The Situation Room turns tense as top officials fight over the next course of action. General Anthony Brody (Tracy Letts) wants a retaliatory attack right away to discourage further attacks, but Deputy National Security Advisor Jake Baerington (Gabriel Basso) tells the President to wait until they know for sure where the missile came from. Admiral Mark Miller (Jason Clarke) attempts to bring them together as the messages from Alaska verify the missile closing in on U.S. airspace.Outside, the crisis is taking a human cost. Defense Secretary Reid Baker (Jared Harris) finds out that his daughter, Caroline, is in Chicago and cannot be saved in time. Grief-stricken, he commits suicide by leaping from the rooftop of the Pentagon. FEMA representative Cathy Rogers (Moses Ingram) and NSA analyst Ana Park (Greta Lee) are also led to a safe underground bunker in Pennsylvania, bracing for the consequences of an imminent nuclear attack.As the nation descends into chaos, the President is escorted from a public appearance and put under the care of Lieutenant Commander Robert Reeves (Jonah Hauer-King), his military aide and advisor on retaliatory policy. The helicopter takes off over Washington, D.C., as Reeves leads him through several scenarios of retaliation. The shaken President tries to reach his wife, who is overseas, before making the toughest choice he'll ever have to make.Read More: The Woman in Cabin 10 ending explained: the shocking body double twist, who lives, and who diesWhat did the President do at the end of A House of Dynamite?The end of A House of Dynamite is on the President's evacuation helicopter, just seconds before the missile is about to strike Chicago. The President sits as Reeves lays out two ultimate choices: retaliate against a perceived enemy, or hold back and risk national exposure. Contradicting voices between his advisors ring in his ears: Brody calling for toughness, Baerington for restraint. The choice rests exclusively with him.In the last instant, the President gazes out of the window as the helicopter passes over a darkened terrain. He attempts one last time to call his wife, then drops the telephone and softly inquires of Reeves for direction. Reeves gently reminds him that only he can place the call. With alarms and radio voices filling the air, the President breathes in deeply, closes his eyes, and begins to speak, before he can, though, the screen goes black.The movie concludes without knowing whether the missile is launched, if Chicago is bombed, or if the President orders a retaliatory attack. The silence is intentional. Director Kathryn Bigelow keeps audiences hanging in limbo between devastation and restraint, emphasizing the intolerable weight of decision when the world hangs in the balance.One of the most characteristic elements of A House of Dynamite is that it never tells us who fired the missile. Throughout the film, government officials speculate that the North Koreans or Russians are responsible, but both claim innocence. The lack of an identified aggressor reinforces the movie's bottom line, that in the nuclear era, fear and uncertainty itself can be as destabilizing as an actual enemy.With too little time left on the clock, the government's confusion reflects actual political paralysis. Officials debate, technology malfunctions, and information degenerates. The audience, as with the characters, is left in limbo, not knowing whether the threat was genuine, inadvertent, or even a mistaken test.Read More: Vicious (2025) ending explained: Polly’s survival and the nature of the mysterious box’s psychological tormentA House of Dynamite was released in theatres on october 10, 2025.