Chernobyl Movie Falls into Abyss

By Nina Afremov

The past decade has seen a rise in the number of films about the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster that, to this day, tallies an uncountable number of radiation-related deaths; arguably, it also marked the beginning of the end of the Soviet regime as citizens rapidly lost trust for the “motherland” that they had been conditioned to so adamantly love. What sets apart “Chernobyl: Abyss” (otherwise called “Chernobyl: 1986”) from other such media is that it is a Russian-produced film. As a Russian-American, I was eager to understand how mainstream Russian media would portray the tragedy. 

The movie follows a fictional firefighter-turned-Chernobyl liquidator. Both civilization and his son, who suffers from radiation poisoning, depend on his success and bravery. Unfortunately, although this movie has a high production value and many resources, it still somehow misses the point, perhaps even purposely. 

This film is exploitative in terms of emotion. The audience is prompted to be so invested in this single fictional character that we hurdle past the crucial details that led to Chernobyl in the first place, which has much to do with the rampant negligence and bureaucracy steeped into Soviet life. One character says some generic words against “bureaucracy,” but the writers clearly got instructed to beat around the bush. 

It’s not a bad movie; although the dubbing certainly doesn’t help, it’s missing the historical accuracy and activism to be a great one.