The Netflix feature film “House of Dynamite” tells a “very different story” about the U.S. government’s ability to repel a nuclear attack than real-world nuclear tests suggest, according to an internal government memo obtained by Bloomberg.
The film, directed by Kathryn Bigelow (“The Hurt Locker”) and written by former NBC News president Noah Oppenheim (“Jackie”), depicts how the U.S. government reacts to a nuclear ballistic missile flying toward Chicago. The Secretary of Defense, played by Jared Harris, expresses shock that the $50 billion missile defense system has only a 50% chance of success in shooting down a missile, and in fact, the system fails in the film.
However, a memo from the Missile Defense Agency, reportedly dated October 16, states that current interception technology “has demonstrated a 100% hit rate over more than 10 years of testing.”
Bloomberg reports that the memo was created to “address incorrect assumptions, provide correct facts, and gain a deeper understanding” of the current system so that agency leadership “has situational awareness and is ‘not surprised’ by topics that may come up in conversations and meetings.”
To the credit of the person who wrote this memo, it does explain dramatic license, saying, “Although the fictional interceptor in the film misses its target, we understand that this is an engaging part of the drama intended to entertain the audience.” But it went on to claim that current testing tells a “very different story” than the one portrayed in the film.
Representatives for Netflix, Bigelow and the U.S. military did not respond to requests for comment. On the Oct. 12 episode of “CBS Sunday Morning,” Bigelow said the filmmaking team did not collaborate with the military out of a desire to “be more independent.”
“That being said, we had multiple technical advisors who had worked for the Department of Defense,” she said. “They were with me on every shoot.”
In an Oct. 26 interview with MSNBC, director Oppenheim responded to the memo, saying the filmmakers “respectfully disagree” with the Pentagon’s assessment of “House of Dynamite.”
“I’m not a missile defense expert, but I have spoken to many missile defense experts who are on the record,” Oppenheim said, noting that he spoke with Bigelow and former White House and Pentagon officials to “debrief” the script. “We asked them a lot of questions: How does it work? What is the process? What are the steps? So we hope that what you see on screen is a pretty accurate depiction of the reality that exists.”
“Unfortunately, our nation’s missile defense system is very imperfect. If the Department of Defense wants to talk about improving it or the next steps to keep us all safe, that’s the conversation we want to have. But what we show in the film is accurate.”
At the Los Angeles premiere of House of Dynamite in early October, Bigelow told Variety that he hoped the film would “certainly start a conversation” about nuclear threats and attacks.
“We live in a highly flammable world and raising awareness of that is a very positive step forward,” she said. “My hope is that we begin to move towards a world of nuclear non-proliferation and nuclear stockpile reduction. I know these are noble aspirations, but none the less.”
Mark Malkin contributed to this article.
