In Kathryn Bigelow’s first film in eight years, she takes on the global nuclear threat, which was depicted to great effect in the classic Fail-Safe (1964). There’s no longer a cold war, but it’s easy to forget just how fast we could barrel towards annihilation.

In this scenario, an unknown enemy have launched a missile in the direction of Chicago. In an attempt to humanize the characters amid all the technicalities of reaching DEFCON 1, we follow the crisis from different perspectives.

Not entirely effective, but still realistic and slowly horrifying, with a good cast.

2025-U.S. 112 min. Color. Directed by Kathryn Bigelow. Screenplay: Noah Oppenheim. Cast: Idris Elba (The President), Rebecca Ferguson (Olivia Walker), Gabriel Basso (Jake Baerington), Jared Harris, Tracy Letts, Anthony Ramos, Jason Clarke.

Trivia: Co-produced by Bigelow.