A House of Dynamite: Every DEFCON Level Explained

Kathryn Bigelow is back doing what she does best: pressure-cooker crisis mode. Her new political thriller, 'A House of Dynamite', is out on Netflix, and it opens with radar in Alaska flagging a missile headed straight for Chicago. The clock is brutal, the Situation Room is packed, and POTUS has minutes to make calls that could change everything.

The setup

The movie lives in that tense overlap of military tactics, war policy, and real-time decision-making. The White House staff is trying to read the situation, triage a response, and talk through the DEFCON ladder. If you like procedure, this thing breathes it.

Why DEFCON matters here

DEFCON is the U.S. Defense Readiness Condition scale — the shorthand for how close we are to major conflict. It counts down: 5 is chill, 1 is catastrophe. One wrinkle most people forget: the current DEFCON level isn’t usually public, which makes the internal debates in the movie feel extra fraught. Everyone in that room is gaming out scenarios without knowing exactly where the line is.

Quick primer: DEFCON from calm to chaos

• DEFCON 5 — 'Fade Out': Baseline peacetime posture. Least severe. The movie obviously doesn’t live here for long.
• DEFCON 4 — 'Double Take': Low-severity alert. Intelligence watch steps up, security tightens, and readiness sits above normal — used for elevated tensions or as a precaution.
• DEFCON 3 — 'Round House': Things get serious. Force readiness jumps, and the U.S. Air Force is prepped to mobilize within 15 minutes. The U.S. hit DEFCON 3 during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.
• DEFCON 2 — 'Fast Pace': The highest level the U.S. has actually ordered. One step from nuclear war. Forces are ready to deploy and engage within six hours. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, Strategic Air Command went to DEFCON 2 while the rest of the military stayed at DEFCON 3.
• DEFCON 1 — 'Cocked Pistol': Maximum readiness. Nuclear war is imminent or underway. The U.S. has never officially reached this. Given the film’s premise, don’t be shocked if the storyline brushes up against this territory.

So where does 'A House of Dynamite' land?

Bigelow keeps the focus tight: White House officials and the president wrestling with incomplete intel while a possible strike barrels toward a major U.S. city. It is, by design, tense and personal. The DEFCON chatter isn’t just jargon — it’s the story’s pressure gauge.

The basics

Director: Kathryn Bigelow

Cast: Idris Elba, Rebecca Ferguson, Anthony Ramos

Year: 2025

Where to watch: Netflix

Production company: First Light

IMDb: 7.3/10

Rotten Tomatoes: 80%