Debuting while the final season of Game of Thrones was airing, HBO’s Chernobyl might not have earned the same attention as the culmination of the fantasy series, but it quickly caught the attention of viewers for the harrowing depictions of the fallout of the 1986 nuclear disaster. While the series was a dramatization of the events, it earned rave reviews for the gripping depiction of the ramifications of the event and the heroic sacrifices made by scientists, soldiers, miners, and civilians to ensure the safety not only of the Soviet Union, but also of the entire planet. Russia’s NTV channel, however, is crafting their own film about the events to tell their perspective, which includes sabotage from an American CIA Agent.
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The Moscow Times confirmed, “As justification for the story, the film’s director, Alexei Muradov, cited fringe conspiracy theorists: ‘One theory holds that Americans had infiltrated the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and many historians do not deny that, on the day of the explosion, an agent of the enemy’s intelligence services was present at the station.’”
The HBO series didn’t attempt to portray everyone involved with the situation as heroes, clearly stating that it was a design flaw in the reactor itself due to lower construction costs that were ultimately to blame for the disaster, while also depicting the spread of misinformation about the situation in order to preserve the reputation of the nation around the world. Despite the horrors that were caused by the incident, the prevailing reaction from audiences has been the shock of the possibilities of corruption in any government, in addition to the impact humans can have on the world for thousands of years while in pursuit of industrialization.
Moscow Times notes, “In place of a moving tribute to the heroic men and women who sacrificed everything to overcome the fallout from the Chernobyl disaster, Moscow gives us a thrilling detective film based on a conspiracy theory in which a KGB officer struggles to thwart American spies — the new villains in this national tragedy.”
Series creator Craig Mazin previously detailed that he made it a choice to deliver the more mundane explanations for events that he uncovered in his research than deliver the more sensational anecdotes.
“It became clear that there were certain aspects of the story that everyone agreed on,” Mazin explained to Vox. “And those stories struck me as terrifying and shocking. From that point forward, if there was a conflict, I would go with the less dramatic, and the less shocking, less sensationalist versions, because I had enough. And every time you nudge things to make yourself look better, you are threatening to undermine the entire thing.”
Chernobyl is available now on HBO.
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