Overview

• The film is playing in select U.S. theaters after an Oct. 10 opening, with a global Netflix release set for Oct. 24.
• Its real-time narrative replays roughly 18 minutes of an incoming ICBM crisis from multiple government vantage points.
• Kathryn Bigelow and writer Noah Oppenheim present the project as a civic prompt to confront nuclear complacency and stockpile policy, leaving the attacker’s identity unspecified.
• Technical authenticity is foregrounded through high-level advisers such as retired Lt. Gen. Daniel Karbler and detailed depictions of command centers including Fort Greely and the White House Situation Room.
• Early reception is divided, with The New Yorker panning the film while Newsweek and The New Republic underscore its urgency and procedural credibility.