Chernobyl
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
One of the most powerful miniseries I've ever experienced, HBO's CHERNOBYL plunges you directly into the greatest man-made disaster in world history.
Spread over five episodes, it's gripping from its very first moments, presenting tragedy on an unimaginable scale, hidden by a now extinct Soviet regime that could never admit failure on any scale.
There are NO weak episodes among the five, with each highlighting a distinct part of the story.
We open with a quiet scene featuring Jared Harris as Russian Nuclear scientist Valery Legasov. His part in the legacy of Chernobyl is key, heroic and stalwart in the face of death from every angle. Harris (Fringe, The Crown) is powerful in every moment and is our throughline over the entire 5+ hours as Legasov.
Almost immediately, we are thrust into the events of April 1986 at the Nuclear Power Plant, an explosion so unimaginable that everyone involved refuses to see how serious it is until it's far too late.
This first hour is packed with compelling moments that won't let you avert your eyes. Families gather with their children on a bridge in Pripyat, a nearby town in the middle of the night, woken by the explosion. As they look at the amazing light show projected into the clouds, tiny snow like ashes begin to fall, loaded with lethal amounts or radiation. Children sing and dance around in them, catching them on their tongues.
Plant Manager Anatoly Dyatlov (Paul Ritter from "Quantum of Solace") is a wrecking crew of bad decisions, forcing a plant test that never should have happened and refusing to acknowledge the true level of the damage. We walk alongside crew members forced to go check on the reactor. They look over the edge into the core itself, fully exposed and blasting lethal radiation into the sky like a volcano of light.
The film doesn't shy away from the reality of the event.
The near immediate effects of the radiation poisoning turns people's insides to blood, causing massive burns within seconds. The special effects and make up teams are first rate and base everything on the actual events.
Compounding the tragedy of an uninformed public and a town just a couple miles away, is Chernobyl's management team, who disregard anyone stating the truth in order to cover their own ass in the tragedy.
Jessie Buckley (Hamnet) is excellent as the wife of a local fireman who's one of the first responders. Her husband Vasily (Adam Nagaitis) is brave beyond measure and will pay the price over the story arc.
Legasov is appointed to a commission to explore the accident as the reality of it begins to sink in. He reports to Boris Shcherbina, excellently played by Stellan Skarsgard (Dune, Melancholia). Shcherbina is a fascinating man, a loyal comrade of the Soviet military who detests Legasov's theories on what's happening at the plant. The relationship these two real-life men form over the arc of the series is fascinating, moving and powerful. Skarsgard & Harris are an acting duo for the ages.
In episode 2, Ulana Khomyuck (Emily Watson), a nuclear scientist in a plant hundreds of miles away begins to detect the radiation leak from Chernobyl and believes that another explosion is imminent. She immediately begins chasing down Legasov as the plant's core continues to spiral out of control. Episode 3 sees Valery developing a plan that may finally bring the core exposure under control, or will it just make it worse? The Tula miners that the Soviet government hires for a dangerous dig under the power plant are led by Andrei Glukhov, played by Alex Ferns (Andor, The Batman) in a scene stealing performance that stays with you.
Episode 4 is a fascinating, different tone as we meet the soviet workers and military personnel charged with the cleanup after the nuclear disaster. From burying every bit of farmland and forest beneath ground to wiping out the radioactive animal population in the evacuated countryside, it's brutal work.
Barry Keoghan (Crime 101, The Banshees of Inisherin) stars as Pavel, a young enlisted man exposed to things no human should ever see. The two other senior soldiers in his team are the ying & yang of the human experience as the world around them falls apart.
The final episode recreates the Soviet trial to hold the plant managers responsible. Every failure must have a scapegoat. By the time this episode arrives, you'll know that a guilty verdict is far from complete justice, with many other factors in play for that tragic April night in 1986.
CHERNOBYL is a rarity. It's educational, suspenseful, as amazing as any disaster movie, but wrapped in real human drama and a thriller that keeps you guessing.
The level of human tragedy and loss here is staggering and the deaths depicted are slow and horrific.
The final scenes detail the facts of history since the accident and how the globe has changed, or not.
It's a cautionary tale that kept me glued to my seat for over five hours without a moment to breathe.
Winner of 10 Emmys, the miniseries was created by Craig Mazin, based on the first-hand accounts of survivors of the disaster. It's directed by Johan Renck (The Walking Dead, Breaking Bad). Brilliant work by all.
I have to mention a few more actors whose performances shined through from a massive and talented cast.
Alan Williams (Rome) is terrifying as KGB Chairman Charkov, whose gentle gaze and quiet manner can stop your blood from pumping.
Ralph Ineson (The Creator, Fantastic Four: First Steps) stands out as General Tarakanov and David Dencik (No Time To Die) sets the perfect tone as Mikhail Gorbachev, who's presence at the council meetings sets an ominous tone.
This is a superb, riveting miniseries that I highly recommend with an A+.
CHERNOBYL isn't just incredibly well made, it's important.
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