‘Our world is combustible’: Kathryn Bigelow on AI, Andy Warhol and nuclear Armageddon

<p>The record-breaking Oscar winner explains how her new film, A House of Dynamite – starring Idris Elba as the US president – is rooted in her cold war childhood and the urgent threats we all face today</p><p>Kathryn Bigelow has been thinking about death: hers, and mine, and yours as well. History will always remember her as the first woman to win a best director Oscar, which she did in 2010 for <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/aug/28/the-hurt-locker-review">The Hurt Locker.</a> But in her new film, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/sep/02/a-house-of-dynamite-review-kathryn-bigelow-nuclear-endgame-idris-elba-rebecca-ferguson">A House of Dynamite</a>, history may not have long to run. It is the story of a nuclear missile, launched at an American city. The rest is about what happens next. Bigelow would like you to consider Armageddon.</p><p>“Someone I know said the bomb for the audience is realising this is possible,” she says. She smiles. “I’m glad if people come away from the movie as concerned as I am.”</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/oct/17/kathryn-bigelow-ai-andy-warhol-nuclear-armageddon-a-house-of-dynamite">Continue reading...</a>