Chernobyl (2019) User Reviews (3,506)

They got it right

[curiosityonmars · 10/10 · 24 May 2019]

I was born in Pripyat. I was four years old when the accident happened. Watching it is more horrifying than living through it. We didn't know what we were dealing with. It's not like a hurricane or an earthquake that takes you by surprise and causes massive destruction. Here everything looked normal, that day was just like any other day and yet you were told to abandon everything and just leave. The immediate casualties of the accident were not huge, but it had an enormous impact on lives of hundreds of thousands of people. I often think what my life would be like if this didn't happen.

This mini series is a masterpiece, perfect in every way. Some people are complaining here that the actors don't speak Russian. I'm a native speaker of Russian and Ukrainian, I don't want the actors to speak Russian. You get so consumed by this show you stop noticing what language they speak.

It's not a documentary, so not each and every detail is accurate, yet I would still call it authentic. The creators got the important stuff right... Both of my parents worked at Chernobyl plant, I grew up hearing stories and versions of what happened. I think this show is the best depiction of the Chernobyl disaster and the stories of its victims. This show is to remind all of us of the cost of lies.

Goosebumps and tears

[stelmakh · 10/10 · 11 May 2019]

A Belarusian here, born in 1983. Parents were scientists, knew everything on the 27th. Chernobyl is never forgotten in Belarus and all the details of the tragedy (a flawed reactor, Soviet style apparatchiks in control, a failed experiment, a clumsy cover-up) are widely known. Yet the series managed to depict the horrible events in a way never before seen. A definite tour de force, I had to literally pause a couple of times to comprehend what had just been shown. Goose bumps and tears, what a masterpiece. Likvidatory - heroes, who contained Chernobyl - should never be forgotten.

Grim Soviet atmosphere depicted accurately apart from some very very minor details. Surprised that a Swedish director who made music videos for Madonna and his English-speaking cast managed to portray Chernobyl events better, than anybody from the countries most traumatized by the explosion.

The tragedy will live forever because of this haunting masterpiece, what a brilliant creative achievement.

I highly recommend this film!

[natashapekar · 10/10 · 10 May 2019]

Hi. I'm from Kiev, Ukraine. I was born in 1983 and I was 2 and a half years when the Chernobyl catastrophe happened. I remember 1980s and I can tell that the authors of this film made a GREAT job to show every detail of what the world look for is in the times of Soviet union. The telephones, the clothes, the haircuts, the cracked paint on the window sills, even the door glass is similar to what I remember. There are couple of things which seemed weird to me: firefighters didn't have the red stars on their helmets, and most of the time people use the short forms of the names when they talk to each other (Vasya, not Vasiliy, Lyuda, not Lyudmila). But the most important thing that this film shows is that the soviet authoritiies lied to people about this catastrophe all the time. For example, in Kiev which is 130 km from Chernobyl, nobody knew about the high levels of radiation till the middle of May, they even held a parade on the first of May, when the level of radiation in Kiev was 100 times higher than normal (iodine131 isotope) and nobody gave us the iodine pills. Everyone who tried to tell the truth was called the provocateur and could even be fired from work. I highly recommend to watch this film. This is a tribute to all the heroes who lost their lives in a radioactive flame and saved all of us from death.

No hero wakes up wanting to die

[m-porpaczi · 10/10 · 15 May 2019]

As my mother tells it, the weather was quite nice, the sky was clear without any sign of clouds in the spring of 1986. It was like any other day behind the iron curtain. Not a lot to do but not a lot to worry about either, a long day of boring work after dropping the kid off at the kindergarten, just to pick him up again at the afternoon, just like yesterday or any other day since the beginning of time. This is why she did not understand why the old lady (who she very much liked because she seemed to love children and had that neverstopping smile) told everyone at the nursery school not to let the children out to play, don't feed them the veggies and don't let them drink the milk we had for every lunch before that day. We lived in a hungarian town close to the croatian border and the life in that town was pretty simple apart from that day. We lived 900 kms from Chernobyl and we did not even know that place exists until 3 days later.

Apparently a man who did not introduce himself called most of the schools and nurseries in the country and told them the same message. A lot of teachers did not take it seriously as he did not mention any details, just the warning: do not let the children out, do not feed them any vegetables which grows overground (potatoes are fine), do not let them drink anything apart from bottled liquids.

Noone knew what it was about. Noone knew what danger we are in. I assume this is why it was such a shock. The life was simple and we were not supposed to know stuff. We were not supposed to be afraid, maybe only because the capitalist pigs over the iron curtain. But something changed that day. A faceless, nameless man risked his life and called everyone he could to warn them about Chernobyl. News like this is not easy to contain, soon everyone was talking about what could happen and why. Is it a nuclear attack? Is it the CIA? Are they looking at us from satelites? Are they bombing us?

It was the first crack on the Iron Curtain. Not Reagan's stupid monologue, not the thousands of fleeing east-germans, not the soviets economy's ridiculous debts. Entire nations realized their lives mean nothing, millions felt betrayed. A man with no name defeated the Soviet regime with a few telephone calls.

We still don't know who that man was. After 30 years and a few inquiries we have no clue who risked his life to prevent thousands of deaths and millions of illnesses. Some historians are adamant the person was executed and vanished without a trace, some say noone found him at all. All I know I have to be grateful for him. We all have to be. He saved a nation. Sure, we could survive the radioactive cloud the mild wind blew over our country but when I look at my two children who are the same age I was back then I am pretty sure I am not willing to take any risks. Would you?

Dear anonymous man who defied a violent regime to save millions: We will forever be grateful. Dear ukranian workers whose names we will never know: We will forever be grateful. The workers whose names we know: We will forever be grateful.

This show tells a story noone should forget and this is the right way to tell it. Bluntly. How the man with no name told us.

So far looks excellent

[Lladerat · 10/10 · 8 May 2019]

Im ukrainian, born in 1988 and still live here. I want to give the authors of this show a big thumbs up for the whole set they have made. Every little detail of the buildings, flats, uniforms, clothes, cars, especially big thumbs up for ambulance "RAFiks" (RAF-2203), almost everything is 99% identical to the real things of the time, just a few mistakes on some signs that have been written in a mix of russian\ukrainian and some other unknown language, but it all doesnt matter, because what i have seen previously in other movies about soviets were so bad that its not even comparable to this. The other thing is this "comrade" word that almost everyone throws while calling or shouting at someone, its just one of those stereotypes thats still left in western world, in reality no one in an everyday life talked like that, especially not in Ukraine in 1986, it was mainly used in 'official' language in meetings and media, people just talked like you and i would today. Apart from this two small inaccuracies i am shocked at the level of production of this show, it is very good, no one outside of Ukraine has ever made a good tv series about Chernobyl before, i have a weird feeling it was made by someone from USSR, because there was zero moments where i cringed watching it. It was mostly "spot on", "spot on", "wow, spot on". Can't wait for the next episode!!!

Incredible

[jfirebug · 10/10 · 21 May 2019]

My husband grew up near Kyiv and his father drove one of the buses that evacuated the civilians from Pripyat. I have heard his stories of the disaster; the people's concerns, fears and sacrifices. We watch this together and he is amazed at it's authenticity. The set detail, the way the Soviet regime hierarchy functioned, the denial and secrecy surrounding the disaster. He tried (as he usually does when watching a Western production based in or about that part of the world) to find errors or inconsistencies but has not been able to - yet.

The acting is impeccable by all, the filming is top notch, the sounds used to heighten the tension versus music. The way they are able to capture that exact feeling of anxiety, horror, disgust and sadness all rolled into one is admirable.

I have completed the series and it definitely ranks as one of the best. This story has been waiting to be told and there is hands down no one better than HBO to do it. Russia has said it intends to produce its own Chernobyl program, it will be interesting to compare the two. Theirs will purportedly label the CIA as the perpetrator....

Bleak, Unsettling, Haunting All Throughout

[thegldt · 10/10 · 7 May 2019]

'Chernobyl' is scarier than most horror movies in that it is a dramatization of actual, real-life horror experienced by thousands of people on that fateful April 1986 morning and the years that followed. This disaster has haunted the nation, Europe, and the rest of mankind more than three decades later. And that creeping dread permeates the whole show. It's difficult to watch. But it certainly makes it a must-watch.

Unbelievable

[alexander-phoenix · 10/10 · 14 May 2019]

I'm Russian. Amazing work! Newer, you hear this, never ever before western cinematography made such authentic film. I speak about details: cars, kitchens, clothes...

HBO did it again!

[wmeduardowm · 10/10 · 7 May 2019]

The first episode somehow surpassed my expectations for what this TV Show would do with the biggest nuclear disaster ever! Without giving any spoilers besides the obvious, the cinematic quality is unbelievable! I found myself looking at many transition scenes with disbelief, a complete state of shock- that's how good the first episode of HBO's mini-series "Chernobyl" was! The writing wasn't LEGENDARY but it was great, but most importantly, consistent! Every actor did an amazing job at portraying each character and their feelings, which ultimately, led to a even greater ambience. When the episode ended, I was left with a feeling like if I was in Chernobyl! I felt like I was contaminated by radiation. Although that might sound silly, I really felt unwell after watching "Chernobyl"! That just shows how incredibly effective the first episode was on displaying the horrific events that took place in Chernobyl, and how many lives were absolutely destroyed and affected following the disaster. So far, a must-watch!

Exemplary

[Leofwine_draca · 10/10 · 28 November 2019]

CHERNOBYL is an excellent depiction of the infamous nuclear explosion that occurred in Ukraine back in 1986. I've previously read a book on the topic so I had some understanding of what took place, but this miniseries is even better. Over five carefully-paced episodes it really gets into the heart of the matter, depicting the science and circumstances behind the explosion and the failures that led to it happening in the first place. It also extensively depicts the fall-out and clean-up operations that were required afterwards. On top of all this, it's a character-focused drama in which the human cost is always at the forefront. Three exemplary performances from Jared Harris, Stellan Skarsgard and Emily Watson lead the way and the smaller roles are equally special. Doubtlessly the best TV show of the year, and one of the best of all time.

It is real and lies made it such

[MAD_PIGE0N · 29 June 2020]

As a person who comes from a country that was ruled by the Communism, I have a good idea of how it was, because we still suffer the consequences of the most inhumane regime in the mankind history and the worst of them are not the economical ones, but the moral.

The mentality of how the actions, the conversations, the people are is right how it happened. There are a lot of great details in every scene: objects, colors. The clock I saw in the very first seconds of Episode 1 is something so common - it was present at home as well. The way the most vile and uneducated scums got promoted to the highest position is what happens even today in the post-communist countries - exactly as in Episode 2 and the ex-shoe factory low life that is now Deputy Secretary and who "prefers his own opinion over the one of a scientists" - this is devastating for a nation and its talents.

But what hurt most is the end: that it's all based on lies. Of hiding information. As it happened in Bulgaria: the Government not only hid the disaster from the people, but the politicians of the highest ranking hid their families and were feeding them with imported products, while the nation was even left to go on the regular parade for the 1st of May. And then the Government revealed it to the people like something minor. And you can imagine the consequences that are still ongoing.

So for those of you who want to know a bit more how it was living in Communism, how and why the Chernobyl disaster happened, for those of you who want to see a masterpiece of cinema work - go for the mini-series.

Great viewing bit the science is flawed

[garybarker-51255 · 7/10 · 1 August 2019]

On first viewing this excellent and entertaining show I have it full marks. I believed it to be a scientifically accurate account of the disaster. It spurred me to do my own research on the subject and it transpires that too much of the show is over dramatised unfortunately. It's left me feeling a bit duped really.

The movie is far from thuth. A lot of fake info to create a drama...

[tutajdaniel · 5/10 · 16 June 2019]

These reviews only show how naive people are... And how easy it is to manipulate them as long as you can make a good movie :)

Movie contains a lot of fake events, persons, accidents for extra dramma... Out of THOUSANDS of people working around the reactors about 100 shown any sings of radiation damage to their health. For over 20 years exactly 34 people of this group died... Almost half of them died for reasons not connected to the "disaster" iteself (car accidents etc.).

Showing a helicopter crushing due to radiation was the most annoying scene I guess - you can check the original videos: the helicopter hit the crane with it's wing.

According to witnesses there were several people on the bridge and they all survived watching the "explosion" of the reactor. If 95%+ of the reactor workers survived, how could all the people on the brigde die? That's such nonsense...

Russians left no workers inside the reactor - they carried all the living people outside.

The explosion wasn't even half as big as the show presented.

I could go on and on... But it has no point. People just saw a movie and they gonna believe it's accurate without any further investigation because that's how most people think: it looks good then it must be truth...

Must Watch!

[Rob1331 · 9/10 · 28 September 2022]

Chernobyl is about the brave men and women who had to navigate the ridiculously scary nuclear accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in April of 1986. It is heartbreaking to watch as this shocking disaster unfold and even though you probably already know the story and what happens you'll still sit on the edge of your seat as tense as can be. This show will grab you from the very first episode and not let go. The attention to detail is just awesome. I can't recommend this show enough so if you're looking for a new show then give this a try, I promise you will not be disappointed. Just make sure you give yourself enough time because you're going to want to binge it as fast as you can.

Emotionally drained...

[frimark · 8/10 · 21 May 2019]

I'm Russian, my father went to Chernobyl as a physicist quite a while after the explosion (a few years). However, he is still shocked of what he has seen over there. I think he will love this TV series...

Anyway, I want to say that this is incredible. I've seen just two episodes and I can't find words to describe how emotionally deep is this film... The details of the Soviet life that are shown in this TV series are incredible. I can't imagine how hard was it to get to this level. It must have been a deep research with tons of interviews. Besides the details, the filmmaking and the music - absolutely unbelievable. Thank you for this. This is one of the best things I've ever seen in my life.

Just watch it (!)

[krzysztof-18241 · 10/10 · 31 May 2019]

30th of April, 1986, was a cloudless, sunny day in southern Poland. I was 13 years old, and went to school as everyday. Just before noon teachers started running, closing all doors and windows, and telling us to stay inside, that the air is radioactive. One hour later we were given Lugol's iodine (still remember its awful taste). There was discussion if we can safely go home. No one knew any details. Composition of beautiful weather and gloomy atmosphere was unreal. Years later, I know what was happening in the background. In morning hours of April 28th one of the stations of Polish Central Laboratory for Radiation Protection (CLRP) in northeast Poland measured radiation exceeding normal level half million times.Two hours later they knew it was reactor explosion, somewhere. Government crisis meeting took all 28th/29th night. Polish prime minister called his Russian counterpart, only to hear he "knows nothing" about any nuclear accident. By 3am "Polish Legasov", prof. Zbigniew Jaworowski from CLRP was called to join the meeting, and he achieved impossible - convinced Polish communists that the worst should be expected. They decided to give iodine to all children and suspend production of milk and vegetables countrywide, starting from the next day (east part of the country first). Chernobyl - I've never written movie review. I've never seen such an accurate depiction of how communist country operates. How it looks. I was literally time-traveled over 30 years back. Incredible. 100/10. You know what is most chilling (for me)? 33 years ago communist Polish government, by some miracle, managed to react in relatively short time. Today - it's impossible. There are no iodine stockpiles. The network of Polish CLRP's 140 measuring stations was dismantled. What about other countries? I don't know, but... Last remark - my grandmother died in early 1987. Rapidly developing thyroid cancer. What exactly caused it? I guess I'll never know.

Painful To Watch, But Essential Viewing

[deepfrieddodo · 10/10 · 6 September 2022]

An infamous world event captured in a riveting series. Chernobyl provides so much depth and wider information into the disaster by following the various lives and stories of those involved, the plot remains gripping beyond the event itself, and the aftermath takes complete scrutiny.

Deeply unsettling and painful to watch at times, the effects of radiation poisoning are explicitly shown in all its horrors, and as horrible as it is to see, the makeup and costuming department must be commended. Everything in the series is visually stunning, staying truthful to history whilst always creating the correct atmosphere on screen.

The truth is ultimately as sinister and concerning as any fictional horror/drama could envision. The politics involved at every step are explained well without removing from the intelligence of the dialogue. The addition of one character is justifiable to remove a cinematic mess of attempting to include dozens of science within a coherent script. Remaining close to the facts only adds to the power of the series.

The casting is brilliant, the addition of multiple UK comedic actors in such serious roles only improves it, with the late Paul Ritter particularly standing out in his performance. None of the cast can be flawed, and there is no ambiguity over unnecessarily dodgy accents.

Whilst baring all, the Chernobyl series remains respectful, yet damning to those responsible. It is historically important, and an absolute must-watch.

Now you look like the minister of coal!

[ahmetkozan · 10/10 · 8 June 2019]

In terms of series expression, it moves on in a style that we can call "documentary-drama". But there is a serious scenario success here. The visual and verbal emotions of the series we watch are sometimes causing anxiety, sometimes causing anger and sometimes we cannot prevent our eyes from being moistened. The gloomy atmosphere of the Soviets is very well reflected. The background music supports this. It has a cinematic narrative. You feel the catastrophe up to your buttonhole. Nevertheless, acting certainly takes the business to a much higher level. Chernobyl is now at the top of the "Top Rated TV Shows" list in IMDb. This is a significant improvement, even if you are a person who does not consider the IMDb score very much. Such a great success in a short time... It really deserves a round of applause. 10/10

Cracking.

[stephenpdodds · 10/10 · 7 May 2019]

Grim is an understatement.

This is one of the very few shows that I'd bless with a ten star.

It is subtle considering the subject but at the same time does not flinch in away from the harsh and immediate reality.

I'll never love this show but I will forever have had my eyes opened by it.

Shame on the Heathen that gave it 6/10 because of the English accents.

It is hard to overestimate the importance of this show.

[emholberg · 9/10 · 27 May 2019]

I was born in Ukraine, 1971. Parents - Soviet "intelligentsia": mother was a high school teacher, father - medical doctor in the military. By the time it happened, we lived near one of the strategic nuclear missile site deep in Siberia. Every year, during the summer school break we used to go to Ukraine, where we spent most of vocation. It should have been the same in 1986, but Chernobyl happened. Official info reiterated that there is nothing to worry about, unless you are in the vicinity of reactor itself. But we all had learned to read between the lines and my farther used his military channels to find out EXACTLY what kind of catastrophe was taking place. He had some info from KGB guys themselves. However, he was reassured that Kiev and certain parts of Ukraine was free of the nuclear fallout and the level of the radioactivity was within normal urban level. He was also clearly warned where NOT TO GO under any circumstances: North-West of Ukraine and big part of Belarus was a heavy fall-out zone. They also mentioned some European countries. Needless to say, that nobody else was talking about this on TV. We made a decision not to change our plans for the summer, but keep in mind those warnings.Each of us had DKP-50A - dosimeter that measures the exposure dose of gamma radiation. We checked the data afterwards and all measures were withing normal limits or less. I remember though, that it was restricted to collect mushrooms or wild berries in the forests anywhere in Ukraine. Any dusty environment was considered dangerous. All water wells were sealed with plastic etc etc Mini series exceeded my expectations. Authors put quite an effort to correctly depict intricate details of this catastrophe. As other reviewers already mentioned, I had noticed so far ( 3 episodes) only minor discrepancies in the overall image of the life in the USSR. People, behavior, political relations etc. Example of such a minuscule inaccuracy - officials, let along common folks, didn't use "comrade" as frequently as it might seems from the episodes. It was very formal, official form of addressing. Usually, after first meeting, they addressed each other by the first AND middle name. In the military it was different - "comrade" + rank (as in modern Russia, BTW). I'm looking forward to see the rest. I am thankful to the authors and actors for their job. My deep bow to those who lost their lives and health, saving millions of lives. EVERYONE should watch this show and see for himself the kind of horror that can be unleashed in the nuclear war.

The Shawshank Redemption of TV Series

[advertslyf · 10/10 · 8 September 2022]

It is hard to pin down any one element that distinguishes the series as A-class, but it has that somewhat indescribable character of screenplay, acting and theme that mix together to leave me with a sense of intrigue and wonder.

Think Shawshank Redemption. You cannot say that the cinematography, the acting or the moral call to action is overwhelmingly a standout. And yet, when you watch Shawshank, you know you're watching a masterpiece.

Rating description: my 10 review denotes a piece that I could watch again, would recommend to others as an immediate priority, and usually involves some deeper learning about human conduct.

Amazing!

[Jamie_Seaton · 24 May 2019]

Quite possibly the most intense and powerful experience in television history! Very well could be the best as well! People nagging on it being English, get a life!

Something isn't right here...

[alek-uk · 6/10 · 27 May 2019]

I have never done a 'review' here yet but after seeing HBO's advert on english television about how Chernobyl is the "highest rated tv show on imdb", I thought I'd take a look at some of the reviews here. I have seen the first 3 episodes of Chernobyl so far (because that's as many that have aired so far), and I am really enjoying it albeit the weird mixed British accents do put me off quite badly sometimes. I am, however, not going to rate it until I have seen the whole thing. Reading through the reviews here, you'd think the entire series is some god-sent best series in the entire history of the world, but I assure you it's not nearly as good as the likes of Sopranos or Breaking bad or even Game of Thrones.. I am quite tempted to start calling fake on a lot of these reviews because it just seems so bizarre that they would shout so much praise before the series has finished.. Also, it's only going to be 6 episodes long, so HBO calling it a "tv show" is a bit of a stretch in my opinion.

So, to those of you who are suspicious of the current rating of 9.7, you should be. It is most likely to be an almost entirely fabricated promotion with a ton of spin-doctored reviews and ratings. I'll give it a tentative 7/10 right now but let's not get too excited yet, eh?

The writing fails at nearly every single level

[jaimearosal · 4/10 · 30 September 2019]

The fact that this miniseries exists and people believe it to be a perhaps embellished, but ultimately accurate depiction of anything that happened in real life is a testament to everything wrong with TV series and the people who consume them. The series gets so many things so absolutely wrong it's a mystery why the writers chose to use the names of actually existing people and places rather than setting the story in an entirely fictional universe.

Many of these problems have been pointed out in far more detail in think pieces, but just to quickly summarize the most egregious ones:

1) The science depicted is completely wrong, from the magnitude of the disaster to the real effects of radiation on humans. One is only left to wonder how come if the people on the "bridge of death" several kilometers away supposedly died from the effects of radiation, all of the supervisors (who were in the nuclear plant at the time of the accident) survived for decades 2) Many of the events depicted are either complete fabrications, or have been blown out of proportion 3) Of the remaining few that actually did happen, their order is often wrong 4) The Soviet State of the late 80s, while repressive, didn't go around murdering or threatening to murder its own citizens 5) For all the expository scienc-ey talk about rector cores, DNA damage, etc. the real dangers of radiation and nuclear fallout are never properly explained, leaving the viewer wondering what the stakes are and how and why decisions are being taken

The most plausible explanation of why the writers chose to twist the facts to such absurd extremes is that if they had done otherwise there wouldn't be a story worth telling, in which case one is left to wonder why would they choose to adapt it in the first place.

Brilliant!

[Supermanfan-13 · 9/10 · 11 July 2022]

I can not overstate just how good Chernobyl really is! It's one of the best mini-series ever made, it's right up there with Band of Brothers! It absolutely lives up to all the hype and love it's gotten since it first came out! It's one of the top rated shows ever for a reason... because it's fantastic! If you haven't seen this amazing series yet then make sure you do as soon as possible!