January 2026

A House of Dynamite Visualizes the Unthinkable

This in-depth look at the making of A House of Dynamite first appeared in American Cinematographer's January 2026 issue. For full access to our archive, which includes more than 105 years of essential motion-picture production coverage, become a subscriber today. The agile, kinetic approach to cinematography Barry Ackroyd, BSC has honed over the years reaches an apex in Kathryn Bigelow’s A House of Dynamite, which sees U.S. government and military officials responding to an unknown enemy’s nuclear-missile attack on Chicago from three perspectives. It is Ackroyd’s third feature with Bigelow, following the Best Picture Oscar winner and ASC Award nominee The Hurt Locker (see AC July ’09) and Detroit. Rooted in many years of documentary...more