Chernobyl: Abyss

Original title: Chernobyl

2021
2h 16m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

A story about a heroic fireman who worked as one of Chernobyl liquidators.A story about a heroic fireman who worked as one of Chernobyl liquidators.A story about a heroic fireman who worked as one of Chernobyl liquidators.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

5.2/10

11K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Trivia
Chernobyl (2021) is directed by and starring Danila Kozlovskiy, who also played Oleg in Vikings (2013-2020), which partly was directed by Johan Renck, who also directed the miniseries Chernobyl (2019).

Goofs
On 26th April 1986 at 01:23 a.m., there were two explosions in reactor four of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, with the second one being the larger of the two. In the film, there is only a single explosion.

Quotes
Firefighter Alexey Karpushin: [when his son was transferred to the airport in order to send him to a Swiss hospital] Alesha, you were driven with emergency lights like Gorbachev.

Connections
Featured in Radio Dolin: Konchalovsky vs. Navalny, Uzbek cosmonauts and "Chernobyl" dir. Danila Kozlovsky (2021)

User reviews188

Review

Featured review

7/10

Definitely, not as bad as the ratings suggest !!

I am really astonished at the low ratings for this Netflix version of Chernobyl called Chernobyl 1986. Yes, I have seen the HBO mini series, Chernobyl and loved every bit of it, except for the fact that it was terribly odd to see Ukrainians and Russians speaking in English. Compared to the HBO version head on, yes this one doesn't stand a chance, as the HBO version Sheds more details on the catastrophic events and had a far superior impression on the viewers minds. Chernobyl 1986, focuses on the personal life of a fictional character who plays a major role in containing certain aspects of the disaster.

The problem with Chernobyl 1986 is that, the movie looses about a good thirty minutes in introducing the lead character and his love life. Things get on track when disaster unfolds, it is when things get intense and sometimes even gripping. Lot of other characters are introduced along the way, and the core story moves to, locating and opening a valve near the reactor, though this part was already covered in the HBO series, but still, it keeps the viewers minds interested.

Cinematography is brilliant, with some shots really exceptional. Screenplay is good enough to keep the viewer interested by just telling a human side of the story, than a technical one. Production design, music, costumes and makeup were excellent. Editing is good and the movie has a runtime of 135 minutes. CGI has some good and bad bits equally. Sound design is excellent. Most of the actors play their parts decently with Oksana Akinshina's performance the best among the lot.

Overall, assuming that the viewer has seen the HBO mini series of the same name and knows all the technical details of the disaster, this movie will give you, a further crash course on true blue patriotism, soul touching love, sacrifice, some nail biting action sequences and a lesson on humanity. All these may sound very cheesy, but thankfully Chernobyl 1986 is definitely not, One has to thank its director Danila Kozlovskiy for that. I would recommend this movie to all the people who have watched HBO mini series, for a follow up of things. Watch it if you don't have anything else to do. 6.7 stars out of 10 for a movie that celebrates humanity and love above everything else.