Film Reviews & Movie Analysis

Created and Written by Craig Mazin

Broadcast: Sky Atlantic
Concluded: 04/06/2019
Synopsis: Following the true events of the 1986 nuclear incident in Chernobyl, Ukraine.
Cast: Jared Harris, Stellan Skarsgård, Emily Watson, Jessie Buckley
Episodes: Five

When the core of a nuclear reactor explodes during a route operation, it sets off the start of a cataclysmic event the world has never seen. Charged with putting Pandora back in her box is Valery Legasov (Jared Harris), Boris Shcherbina (Stellan Skarsgård) and Ulana Khomyuk (Emily Watson).

Things go from bad to worse before the light at the end of the tunnel is ever seen. We follow the lives of the people tasked with containing the event, as well as those less directly involved and yet, just as, or even more so affected by that one night in Chernobyl.

I only knew the surface details surrounding the events in Chernobyl, and thought that the series did a fantastic job of diving in and focusing on the minute details that went into balancing the scales. A prime example is Episode Four where we followed the soldiers tasked with putting down the animals exposed to radiation.

Though there were a number of things I liked about the series; the workmanship between Legasov and Shcherbina, as well as watching the numerous attempts and efforts that went into containing the disaster – I thought the pacing was all over the place.

Understandably, the introductory episode outlines what’s to come but the pilot episode was so slow I considered quitting entirely. Though an explosion was imminent – and does occur – the level of urgency, anxiousness and pressure, didn’t come through for me. That being said, Episode Two and Three were the stand out of the five both for its story and pacing.

One thing I do really want to commend is the sound design throughout the series. They did a stellar job of hooking you into the moment and used sound in a lot of unique ways to subconsciously link you to the dangers of a situation and fears of characters.

I think if Chernobyl was any longer than five episodes, there is every likelihood that I would have stopped watching after either Episode One or even Four. However, as it was so short and contained, the peaks and troughs in story did end up working well together to keep the series both interesting and informative. A great snippet into a piece of history and done in a format that I would be more than happy to see again applied to another event.

Trailer Below…