Captain Olivia Walker (Rebecca Ferguson) is unflappable in the face of nuclear disaster in Kathryn Bigelow's "A House of Dynamite."
Idris Elba plays the U.S. president in Netflix thriller "A House of Dynamite."

Imagine a nuclear warhead is hurtling straight toward us, with only 18 minutes to respond before a major city is obliterated.

That’s the stomach-churning premise of “A House of Dynamite” (streaming Oct. 24 on Netflix), a gravely distressing new thriller that realistically envisions how the U.S. government might react to an incoming missile.

The movie was conceived by Oscar-winning director Kathryn Bigelow, who has exposed the brutal realities of combat (“The Hurt Locker”), terrorism (“Zero Dark Thirty”) and police brutality (“Detroit”) in her urgent political dramas.

As “somebody who’s obsessed with national security,” Bigelow says she couldn’t shake the question of whether the United States is prepared to face such a catastrophe. So she called on screenwriter Noah Oppenheim, a former NBC News president with expertise on nuclear preparedness.

Together, they spoke with several current and former military officials across administrations to piece together how this chilling hypothetical might play out in the White House Situation Room and U.S. Strategic Command, or STRATCOM.

“It's unnerving, the degree of chaos, confusion and helplessness, especially in a situation that is so global,” Bigelow says. “The intensity of the consequences is almost beyond our ability to comprehend. That takes me further down the rabbit hole of: How could we reduce the nuclear stockpile? We're living in this hair-trigger environment that could create global annihilation, and yet that is what we consider a defensive measure. How is this rational? It caused me to be very analytical about the world we live in.”

'A House of Dynamite' aims to spark 'a conversation' about nuclear weapons

“A House of Dynamite” follows numerous soldiers and national security advisers from different vantage points, as they attempt to intercept and destroy the mystery missile before it wipes out Chicago. If that fails, it’s then up to the president (Idris Elba) to either wait to assess the global fallout or strike back immediately at an unknown enemy.

Meanwhile, government officials tearfully call their loved ones in Chicago, unsure if they should warn them or allow them to live what may be their final minutes in peace.

Rebecca Ferguson plays Captain Olivia Walker, a senior officer in the Situation Room who is tasked with ensuring smooth crisis communication between leadership. Like Jessica Chastain’s relentless CIA analyst in “Zero Dark Thirty,” Ferguson liked that the coolheaded Walker is not defined by her gender.

“What Kathryn does is she takes the accurate people for the accurate moment, and she makes them into human beings and puts them under pressure,” Ferguson says. “That's what I love. There's no conversation about womanhood or the fact that she’s a mother.”

The Swedish actress acknowledges that she has not always been “very politically engaged," but “I have become more after this film because I’m scared."

“There’s an enormous escapism because, where I live, I have the possibility of doing that," Ferguson adds. Now, she realizes, we are all "constantly under threat.”

The ”Mission: Impossible” star appreciated Bigelow’s unvarnished approach to filmmaking, with four cameras rolling simultaneously to capture the actors’ every move in real time. (“You don’t really know where the angle is; no one cares about a double chin,” Ferguson says.) Advisers were on hand to teach them the nuances of the Situation Room and the importance of maintaining calm under unfathomable stress.

“These people are the ones who are more well-versed in the matter than the actual president, who is the one who sits with a finger on a trigger,” Bigelow says. “These are the people who need to dissect the threat, understand the counter threats, and present it as clearly as possible so (the commander in chief) can make an appropriate decision. But in my opinion, there is no good decision that involves nuclear weapons.”

Kathryn Bigelow isn't worried about backlash after 'Zero Dark Thirty' controversy

In her research, Bigelow says it was “most startling” to be reminded that the president “has sole authority” when it comes to nuclear retaliation.

“That is surprising to me that it's not a decision arrived at by consensus,” Bigelow says. “We're in this crazy paradox where to save the world, we have to destroy the world. I’m hoping there's a conversation that could come out of this film: How do you unravel the paradox? How do you get the dynamite out of the walls?”

In 2010, Bigelow became the first woman in Oscar history to win best director for “The Hurt Locker.” She’s a vocal advocate against gender-based discrimination in Hollywood, and says she’s “heartened” by the progress she’s seen. “It’s a process, change takes time," she says now. "It's a difficult business."

Bigelow has been an agitator throughout her career, ruffling feathers with "Zero Dark Thirty" in particular. The 2012 movie, which depicts the hunt for Osama bin Laden, was criticized by some politicians and media commentators as being “pro-torture,” while others alleged that the government gave filmmakers unauthorized access to classified information. But Bigelow is unconcerned about potential backlash to “A House of Dynamite,” given its “clear message.”

“It's so straightforward,” Bigelow says. “There are over 12,000 nuclear weapons in the world. Nine countries possess them and only three countries are members of NATO. That sentence is paralyzing to me.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'A House of Dynamite' shows 'chaos and helplessness' of impending nuclear doom

Reporting by Patrick Ryan, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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