Overview

• The Netflix-backed thriller debuts in competition in Venice, introducing a real-time scenario built around roughly twenty minutes before a detected missile strike on the United States.
• Idris Elba leads the cast as the U.S. president, joined by Jared Harris, Tracy Letts, Gabriel Basso and Rebecca Ferguson.
• Bigelow developed the film with screenwriter Noah Oppenheim, drawing on consultations with former Pentagon, White House and CIA officials to sharpen procedural detail.
• The narrative focuses on how decisions move through protected situation rooms and emphasizes that a single leader holds exclusive authority to authorize nuclear use.
• The film is slated for a theatrical release on October 10 with streaming to follow on October 24, with Venice prizes to be awarded September 6.