Decoding The Reason Behind 'Chernobyl' Currently Being The Highest-Rated Show on Imdb

While some shows cook up the perfect recipe into becoming a popular show thus transpiring into being rated high, some do it as quietly as a cat walks. Shows like Game Of Thrones or Breaking Bad arrived with a bang on the mass circuit and went on to garner love and popularity with time passing by.

Result? Both these shows are in the Top 5 of the highest rated shows on IMDb (International Movie DataBase) and also two of the most successful shows of all time. However, have you already heard of a series that has beaten both these shows and others to become the highest-rated series of all time? If you haven't yet, I don't blame you.

So, how did a disaster drama like Chernobyl from HBO become the current topper of the IMDb list? I saw the first couple of episodes (only three are out as of yet) and tried to decode it.

What is Chernobyl About?

As the name suggests, the 5-part miniseries from HBO is a historical disaster drama about the most devastating man-made nuclear catastrophe that occurred in the Soviet Union in 1986. While the series doesn't waste too much time on the pre-disaster happenings, it delves right into the event and several cleanup efforts (literally and figuratively) that happened after that.

Who Are The Creators?

The brain behind creating this series is that of Craig Mazin who not only creates but has written the show and also serves as an executive producer. In absolute contrast to Chernobyl's tone, Craig is actually known for serving as the writer of a couple of Scary Movies (3 & 4) and The Hangover Part 2 and 3. Wow! Imagine the change of plans for this one.

Coming to the director, all the 5 episodes have been directed by Johan Renck, who is primarily a musical guy known for directed and creating music videos. One would wonder what must have gotten him on board? Well, the man has directed three episodes of Breaking Bad (arguably the greatest show in the modern era) and one episode of the long-runner, The Walking Dead. Boom! That's the resume you want to look at.

What Makes The Show So Good?

Coming to the million-dollar question about what is it that makes the show so good that the viewers have rated it amongst the best of all time already? On paper, the HBO series looks like just another calamity-drama which would have some breathtaking shots of the wrath caused owing to the fabulous CGI options available. However, that indeed is the biggest win for Chernobyl as the show doesn't focus on the exterior of the tragedy, which in other words is merely an attempt to divert you from the crux of the matter. 

It meddles into the inside tension, worry, poor-decision making and sheer claustrophobia of the people involved while it is happening and after that. One beautiful factor that particularly stood out for me is how you don't just see the engineers involved in the incident running here and there dumbfounded and in disbelief. Of course, the natural instinct of any human during a disaster is to just freaking save himself but the approach here is different. These engineers are as traumatized as any of us would be but they are also demanded to rack their brains and understand the cause to remedy it the same time. Instead of random hustling-bustling, the show has several steady moments during the tragedy where brains are not taken over by panic.

What makes the whole thing a lot better is how they coincide the internal situation with an external human approach in the form of several families in the city looking at some explosion far-far away and what can they do best? Get a better look at it.

The Music & Cinematography

In a drama series, especially in one which is usually clad with quick scenic shifts, the music and cinematography are probably the most important factors to keep the viewers engaged. Hildur Gudnadorttir's music for the series is poignant and haunting at the same time. With mellow piano tunes in some scenes to the constant alarm bells when a red alert is announced, the music sets the tone for Chernobyl keeping your eyes on the occurrences.

And coming to the cinematography, Jakob Ihre's frames are brilliant, to say the least. Be it the small glimpses of the massive destruction or faded close-ups of affected engineers; even though the lighting is dark, it doesn't make you squint your eyes in order to understand what is exactly going on! (Understand Game Of Thrones?)

The Verdict

Not even for a single moment do you feel you are watching a rehearsed motion picture presentation with actors acting. Chernobyl has actors doing their jobs so well that you feel you're indeed a live spectator of the worst manmade catastrophe ever. It is meant to emotionally destroy you, rethink your role in facilitating the pathetic situation of global climate change and get the brutality presented in a way that is not disgusted for the eyes yet leave you disgusted. And at the end of the day, who doesn't like a well-made nuclear explosion drama, right? Okay, maybe that is just me.