Overview

• Bigelow’s first film since 2017 debuted Tuesday at the Venice Film Festival, where it is in competition as one of three Netflix titles ahead of awards on September 6.
• The story focuses on roughly 18–20 minutes before a nuclear strike on the United States, with Chicago threatened, and unfolds across three vantage points: the White House and an Alaska base, NATO’s communications center, and the president.
• Bigelow and writer Noah Oppenheim said the film aims to spotlight the global danger of nuclear arsenals and the reality that a single leader holds exclusive launch authority.
• The cast includes Idris Elba as the U.S. president, Jared Harris as the defense secretary, Tracy Letts as a general, and Rebecca Ferguson as a senior situation room officer.
• Netflix released the trailer as the film drew a reported 11‑minute standing ovation in Venice, with a theatrical rollout in October and streaming on October 24.