Written by Noah Oppenheim, Dynamite is largely a movie about structures and processes and readiness in the face of chaos—and how even the most competent and prepared authorities can still become undone by it. After spending a quarter-century in journalism covering politics and foreign affairs, Oppenheim, who also wrote the Netflix miniseries Zero Day, explains he’s always been fascinated by the way institutions handle crises and respond under pressure. “When I got my first significant job in news, somebody said to me, ‘I've got bad news. There is no floor of grownups that know what to do,’” Oppenheim says. “It's just people, and we're all doing the best we can. And that's true in every organization, including the White House and the Pentagon.”