FilmTribe Pick: Chernobyl by Craig Mazin is now streaming. And the script is available to download now too!

Chernobyl is a five-part mini-series created and written by Craig Mazin for HBO and Sky UK that is also available to Indian audiences on Hotstar. The series stars Jared Harris, Stellan Skarsgard, Emily Watson, Paul Ritter and Jessie Buckley and has been directed by John Renck.

Chernobyl dramatizes the story of the 1986 nuclear accident, one of the worst man-made disasters in history, and the sacrifices made by many to save Europe from the unimaginable. The series recreates the incidents around the disaster that occurred on 26 April 1986, which was an explosion of the No. 4 nuclear reactor is the city of Pripyat (Ukraine), and the investigation, the attempt of a cover-up and a massive cleanup effort that followed, in great detail at a time when the Soviet Union still existed. Watch the trailer here.

While the series alleges that millions of people have suffered repercussions of this disaster, this figure has no consensus as it is very hard to calculate it when the deaths are not immediate and illnesses hard to attribute. The official Soviet recording puts the death toll at 31. The United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency associate the number of premature deaths to be approximately 4,000. Estimates range from 4,000 to 27,000 by the Union of Concerned Scientists. Greenpeace estimates that between 93,000 – 200,000 people died as a result of the disaster.

As horrifying it is to watch, it is compelling too. It definitely is one of the best series of all time. Revered Indian director Anurag Kashyap, in fact, called it the best ever on Twitter to which Craig Mazin responded very warmly. 

“Chernobyl” is by far the best show I have seen .. it just puts all theories to rest as in What makes a great show.. next up Fosse/Verdon . Also on Hotstar

— Anurag Kashyap (@anuragkashyap72) June 3, 2019

Craig Mazin has pulled a rabbit out of the hat with this series. Not only has he mostly written very Hollywood mainstream comedy films before, two of the Scary Movie, two of The Hangover, Hunstman and more, but this is also his first TV series. He started researching for the series in 2014, got the nod from HBO and Sky UK in 2017 and the show premiered on 6 May 2019. Johan Renck is a surprise too. Mainly a music video director, he directed one film, Downloading Nancy, which premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. He’s also directed three episodes of the television drama Breaking Bad, one episode of The Walking Dead and one episode of Halt and Catch Fire.

The creator has already made it very clear, there will be no Season 2. So go watch now and feel marvel and horror at the same time. Craig Mazin has also been generous enough to provide the entire script for download on 4 June 2019. But he says do not read it until you’ve watched the whole series. Download it here.

Just to be clear… this is a perfectly reasonable question, but my answer is very firm.

Do NOT read the scripts until you have completed the entire series. We prepared a nice meal for you. Once you’ve finished, feel free to tour the kitchen! https://t.co/DpwJ6RCSWK

— Craig Mazin (@clmazin) June 4, 2019

Watch the series now on Hotstar here.