Stephen King Blasts Donald Trump, Hails Netflix’s Breakout Hit

Stephen King watched Netflix's new political thriller and immediately lobbed a grenade at real-life politics. The movie is tense on its own. King's take turned it into a Rorschach test for the current White House.

Stephen King liked the movie. He liked dragging Trump even more.

King jumped on X (formerly Twitter) to praise 'A House of Dynamite' while blasting President Donald Trump in the same breath. He did not mince words:

'A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE (Netflix): Terrifying, especially given the unprincipled, waffling nitwit now occupying the White House...or what remains of it.'

That went up on October 24, 2025. Subtlety was not the vibe.

What the movie is actually about

'A House of Dynamite' is Kathryn Bigelow doing what she does: pressure-cooker crisis, procedural grit, and no easy answers. Noah Oppenheim wrote it. The setup is simple and nasty: an unknown adversary launches a nuclear missile at the United States. We track three threads converging on the same nightmare, including inside the West Wing where Idris Elba plays the President staring down a lose-lose decision.

• Director: Kathryn Bigelow
• Writer: Noah Oppenheim
• Cast: Idris Elba (the President), Rebecca Ferguson, Jared Harris, Gabriel Basso, Tracy Letts
• Plot snapshot: A nuclear missile is inbound toward Chicago. Retaliate and risk global catastrophe, or hold back and risk looking weak? The clock is unforgiving.
• Release: Premiered at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival (nominated for the Golden Lion), had a limited theatrical run in early October, and started streaming globally on Netflix on October 24, 2025.

About that ending

If you like neat bows, this movie does not like you back. As the missile bears down on Chicago and Elba's President weighs whether to strike back, the film cuts to black right before impact. It is a deliberate gut-punch.

Oppenheim explained the choice to Radio Times: he and Bigelow wanted to leave viewers stuck with the dilemma instead of letting anyone walk out thinking, 'OK, the world was saved' or 'the world ended' and call it a day. In other words: no clean resolution on purpose.

Sequel? Maybe, but nothing official

Netflix has not announced a follow-up. The cliffhanger certainly tees one up, but for now it's just an aggressively open door.

The bottom line

'A House of Dynamite' is built to spike your heart rate and then refuse to tell you how to feel. King calling it 'terrifying' tracks, and his extra commentary about the real Oval Office is... well, very Stephen King. The movie is streaming now on Netflix, including in the US. If you watch it, prepare to be left hanging on purpose.