Csernobil

A perfect "based on a true story" blend of raw reality, Soviet feeling, perfect cast, and exemplary work with suspense and script. It's certainly not something to revisit and look for alternative paths and subtle script twists, like Game of Thrones, but the ambitions here are completely different: to remember, never to forget, never to repeat; and they managed that to absolute perfection. Although some moments are glossed over, they are outweighed by the urgency and narrative value of a deadly catastrophe in the history of mankind. On par with Schindler’s List. (2019.06.20)

An impressive opening thrust into the story. Rarely has there been a representation in which the story line and main event is more prominent than the key characters and their stories, but that is the case here. The first episode styles the Chernobyl power plant as an imaginary monster that is about ten times more terrifying than five Marvel villains combined. So far, a hyper-realistic, raw historical document that sticks accurately to historical realities and makes the medium of film exactly at the over-the-top moments where it's needed most. (2019.06.13)

An episode with a slightly slower pace, but more depressive and suggestive. There’s a bit less of the power plant and a few more characters. Let's hope that the cold and straightforward concept of the first episode will remain unchanged. Even after two episodes, this is absolute peak TV. (2019.06.13)

The pace slackens, but there is plenty of detailed information, a bunch of tough miners, and the relationship between Legasov and Sterbina, who gradually become a peculiar pair of inseparable amigos, is brilliantly portrayed. Of course, the raw authenticity and urgency with the hallmark of a real event still crushes everything in its path and pulls the quality high up. (2019.06.16)

Impressive in the sense that the creators didn't just focus on the explosion itself and the instant adventure that came immediately afterwards, but mapped out the wider context, even the longer time span of many months since the disaster and the piling up of more and more problems and issues that need to be addressed. It doesn't have that uncompromising drive and brutal authenticity anymore, but it's still a damn well made concept with lots of "dangerous" scenes. (2019.06.16)

Jared Harris's impressive analysis of a nuclear reactor is an exemplary performance that delivers more action than a blockbuster action thriller. (2019.06.20)