In the summer of 2025, Israel attacked Iran destroying nuclear facilities because Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu argued that Iran was developing nuclear weapons. Having hostile countries with nuclear weapons is a big fear in the world. However, there are already several countries that may or may not be hostile that already have nuclear weapons. Plus, some would argue that Iran wasn't an imminent threat. Yet, the United States joined the conflict, also bombing Iran's nuclear facilities, concurring with Netanyahu's narrative. At the time, people were afraid this would be the start of World War III. That kind of tension hearkened back to 1962 and the Cuban Missile Crisis where people in the United States feared the Soviet Union would launch nuclear weapons at North America. Russia and North Korea are two countries about which the United States worries the most, as those who could launch a nuclear attack on the USA.
It's ironic because the United States remains the only country to use a nuclear weapon against another. In 1945, during World War II, the U.S. dropped two atom bombs on Japan, one on Hiroshima and the other on Nagasaki. It ended the war. Japan didn't retaliate further after that and today, those two cities have been rebuilt and are thriving. Obviously, the death and destruction that took place in those cities in 1945 have created this ultimate fear that prevents anyone from launching a nuclear attack again for fear that one would be launched in retaliation, resulting in not only millions but possibly billions of deaths. That ultimate fear has likely kept all countries with nuclear weapons from using them.
Rebecca Fergusion (Dune and Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation) stars as Olivia Walker, a woman who works in the White House. Specifically, she works in the Situation Room, which is actually a large communications center that's used to monitor and coordinate international crises and large-scale or global military operations. Olivia is married and has a child. One day, she goes to work in the morning and is completely shocked when it's revealed that a nuclear missile has been launched from an unknown country and is heading to North America. If the missile isn't stopped, it will destroy the City of Chicago, killing 10 million people. Olivia is panicking on the inside, but she does her best to keep calm and to keep those around her calm. There's a countdown though of 19 minutes till the USA is hit with this nuclear attack.
Unfortunately, there's not much more to her character because her character essentially disappears after the first half-hour or so. The film is an ensemble piece. After that first half-hour, the film pivots to another character. It rewinds and replays that 19-minute situation, but from that other character's perspective or rather from the perspective of people in another room. Instead of the White House, the film switches to Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska.
Tracy Letts (Ford v Ferrari and Lady Bird) also stars as Anthony Brady, a General at Offutt AFB. He's one of the leaders of the United States Strategic Command or StratCom. StratCom is responsible for coordinating any nuclear strikes any where in the globe. When he learns of the nuclear missile headed for Chicago in 19 minutes, it's up to him to talk to the President to determine how to stop the missile, as well as if and how to retaliate. It's this 2nd section of the film that is the most intriguing, as it reminded me of Crimson Tide (1995).
That 1995 film by Tony Scott was basically about two men debating over whether the U.S. should retaliate and launch nuclear weapons. The two men were Gene Hackman and Denzel Washington. Letts' Anthony Brady is the equivalent to Hackman's character arguing to retaliate. The equivalent to Denzel Washington arguing not to retaliate is Jake Baerington, the deputy NSA chief, played by Gabriel Basso (The Night Agent and Hillbilly Elegy). Jake takes the position that if the U.S. retaliates, it would be World War III and instead of one country dropping nukes, it's several and could result in annihilation across the board. Yes, 10 million dead is horrible, but billions dead would be even worse.
That wasn't exactly the sticking point in Crimson Tide. The question in that film wasn't a calculus over whether to launch nukes. It was more about military protocol and launching nukes was the rope in the two-man tug-of-war. It's not the same here because what made the conflict in Crimson Tide incredible is that it was about the personalities and the ideologies of the characters. That's not the case with General Brady and Jake. They're just avatars for this political debate. Both Letts and Basso give great performances, but the question is in service to what?
Idris Elba (Luther and The Wire) rounds out the cast as the President of the United States. He's very much Obama-coded. Yet, he's also George W. Bush-coded, especially when Bush found out what was happening the morning of 9/11. Strangely though, Elba's character doesn't get much to do but sit around and be indecisive. The point might be to show how difficult a choice the President has to make. If it's a debate, the film should have made it more of a debate. Elba's character is more stumbling through the third and final section. It's okay to stumble but Elba's talents are wasted because he doesn't even express an opinion or strong point-of-view. We're not even sure what his politics are.
Rated R for language.
Running Time: 1 hr. and 55 mins.
Available on Netflix.