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Miniseries – Chernobyl

Play trailer 2:28 Poster for Miniseries – Chernobyl May 2019 History Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
95% Tomatometer 102 Reviews 97% Popcornmeter 2,500+ Ratings
Brave men and women act heroically to mitigate catastrophic damage when the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant suffers a nuclear accident on April 26, 1986.
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Chernobyl — Miniseries

Chernobyl — Miniseries

What to Know

Critics Consensus

Chernobyl rivets with a creeping dread that never dissipates, dramatizing a national tragedy with sterling craft and an intelligent dissection of institutional rot.

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Critics Reviews

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Scott Bryan BBC.com 07/15/2020
What is so good about this drama ... is that it has a cast of British actors but none of them are trying to do a terrible Russian accent. Go to Full Review
Graeme Blundell The Australian 12/17/2019
...created with an awesome attention to historical accuracy and detail, brought back that harrowing event with frightening clarity and a superbly orchestrated sense of danger and dread. Go to Full Review
Allison Keene Collider 12/04/2019
5/5
Chernobyl is a series where you will have to remind yourself to unclench your jaw and un-tense your shoulders while watching it. It is heartbreaking and intense, and a hell of a thing to watch the day afterGame of Thrones. But it's also necessary. Go to Full Review
Sarah Ward Concrete Playground 06/25/2022
As masterful as it is haunting and shocking — which is exactly what a show about such a dark chapter of recent history should be. Go to Full Review
William Schwartz Book & Film Globe 03/25/2022
That methodological approach gives the HBO Chernobyl series a distinct impression of truthiness despite factual errors, almost all of which were unsubtly designed to make the Soviet government look bad. Go to Full Review
Carey-Ann Pawsey Orca Sound 01/06/2022
4/5
Chernobyl is a winner in many ways. The acting, the direction and the fact that it brings to light a story that the world should know more about. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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J M 5d The best mini series ever made. It's like you were right there as a ghost of yourself, able to peer into every detail. See more Diane M Jan 21 This was the scariest show Ive I've watched in a long, long time See more James G P @AlbertJay Jan 19 Gripping from start-to-finish. I have read the various criticisms about the accuracy of aspects of the series, and accept them, but I don't think that any of them are fatal, and believe that the overall impact is a fair enough representation of what was, after all, a chaotic and unprecedented environment. The crux of the film is the moral challenges faced by the mere mortals involved, at all levels. We are forced to ask ourselves how any of us would have operated within the bounds of the Soviet system - and, perhaps, how we should operate within our own. See more Jupp G @Grabi Jan 12 The series was entertaining to watch. How much truth there is in the series is another matter. You can't trust the Americans. I wouldn't trust the Russians either. In the end, you have to decide for yourself what you want to believe. See more J R @CallingOutSensationalism Jan 11 In the grand scheme of things, human survival is about seeing the world around us and reacting to the evidence in a responsible grown up way, particularly with respect to climate change. This show puts unnecessary fear in people’s minds about large scale nuclear, which is actually very safe per TWh produced, and is the only thing that could actually help kickstart a decent decarbonisation programme. But that idea was kicked into the gutter by the person who initiated and funded this series. He has blood on his hands in more ways than one. See more Lucas O @LucasOMovies Jan 5 Rating: 93%. This show was amazing. Probably the best re-creation of a historical event I have ever seen. The acting was beautiful; each actor played their role so well. It captured the true horror of Chernobyl and had an eerie feel the whole time. The dull colors also helped. It was a good length, showing the fallout and what had to be done to fix the situation. Heartbreaking and crazy to think that this really went down. See more Read all reviews
Chernobyl — Miniseries

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Episodes

Episode 1 Aired May 6, 2019 1:23:45 Plant workers and firefighters put their lives on the line to control a catastrophic April 1986 explosion at a Soviet nuclear power plant. Details Episode 2 Aired May 13, 2019 Please Remain Calm With untold millions at risk, nuclear physicist Ulana Khomyuk makes a desperate attempt to reach Valery Legasov, a leading Soviet nuclear physicist, and warn him about the threat of a second explosion that could devastate the continent. Details Episode 3 Aired May 20, 2019 Open Wide, O Earth Lyudmilla Ignatenko, a Pripyat resident, ignores warnings about her firefighter husband's contamination; Valery Legasov lays out a decontamination plan, complete with human risks. Details Episode 4 Aired May 27, 2019 The Happiness of All Mankind Valery Legasov and Soviet Deputy Prime Minister Boris Shcherbina consider using lunar rovers to remove radioactive debris; Ulana Khomyuk faces government hurdles in determining the truth about the cause of the explosion. Details Episode 5 Aired Jun 3, 2019 Vichnaya Pamyat Valery Legasov, Boris Shcherbina and Ulana Khomyuk risk their lives and reputations to expose the truth about Chernobyl. Details
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Season Info

Director
Johan Renck
Executive Producer
Craig Mazin, Carolyn Strauss, Jane Featherstone
Screenwriter
Craig Mazin
Network
HBO
Rating
TV-MA
Genre
History, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date
May 6, 2019