If Game of Thrones is the headliner this spring for HBO, then Chernobyl is the opening act you won’t want to miss. The five-part limited series tells the real-life story of 1986’s Chernobyl disaster, a nuclear accident during the final years of the Soviet Union that left dozens dead. “Chernobyl is on fire, and every atom of uranium is like a bullet penetrating everything in its path,” says Valery Legasov (played by Jared Harris, following up his award-worthy performance in The Terror) in the trailer above. “Metal, concrete, flesh. Now Chernobyl holds over three trillion of these bullets. Some of them will not stop firing for 50,000 years.”
Move over, dragons.
All five episodes were directed by Johan Renck (Bloodline, Halt and Catch Fire), while the rest of the cast is rounded out by Emily Watson, Stellan Skarsgård, Ralph Ineson, Fares Fares, Adam Nagaitis, and David Dencik.
Here’s the official plot description:
On April 26, 1986, the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine, Soviet Union suffered a massive explosion that released radioactive material across Belarus, Russia and Ukraine and as far as Scandinavia and western Europe. Chernobyl dramatizes the story of the 1986 accident, one of the worst man-made catastrophes in history, and the sacrifices made to save Europe from the unimaginable disaster.
Chernobyl premieres on May 6 on HBO.
