Antinuclear

From the opening moments, it conjured up panic and despair, beginning with the suicide of Jared Harris’ nuclear physicist Valery Legasov (Harris must have “harrowing departure” on his CV), then throwing us right back into the hellish disorientation of the disaster itself, two years earlier …..

Chernobyl is a disaster movie, a spy movie, a horror movie, a political thriller, and a human drama, and it spins each plate expertly. The terror is unflinching and explicit, and its images of burned bodies collapsing into putrid decay are impossible to forget. Yet it never feels shocking for the sake of it, only as haunting and horrible as its subject matter demands. It manages to navigate the perilous path of having its characters speak in jargon, and largely refusing to explain it, while keeping viewers on top of what is happening…..

Often prestige television like this – expansive, expensive and ambitious – falls back on its wordiness, and Chernobyl is certainly well-written enough to justify that. But it is as cinematic as it is reliant on dialogue, and it has the patience to let images do the heavy lifting when it is called for. ……

 The obfuscation of truth is rampant and catastrophic. We may not be living under the threat of the KGB, but the menace of constant surveillance does not feel far away. The rejection of scientific knowledge, of experts, has terrible consequences. It makes sense that modern audiences would take to Chernobyl; the contemporary resonance is plain.

Chernobyl should not be as enjoyable as it is. As a drama, it is unremittingly grim.. Even its hints of heroism – Legasov and Khomyuk defying party officials to try and stem the ramifications of the disaster – are tempered by them sending innocent men to die, and by the knowledge that Legasov’s card is very much marked. But what a thrill it is to see it all playing out so brilliantly. This is television that sears itself on to your brain. In spite of the horrors, five episodes do not feel like nearly enough. https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/may/29/chernobyl-horrifying-masterful-television-that-sears-on-to-your-brain?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Copy_to_clipboard&fbclid=IwAR0wAayW6vrXvC1