Dystopian dramas are having a moment right now across some of the biggest streaming services.
Later this month, for example, Netflix will give us Black Knight — a Korean sci-fi series about delivery drivers in a future world ravaged by air pollution. In March, Apple TV+ debuted the climate change drama Extrapolations, a star-packed series that grapples with the degree to which our world might be irrevocably changed in the future. And this weekend, the iPhone maker’s streaming service has teed up an extremely buzzy dystopian release: Silo, a 10-episode adaptation of Hugh Howey’s series of novels.
Here’s what viewers can expect from Silo and why I’m so excited for this Apple TV+ series, featuring a star-studded cast led by Rebecca Ferguson:
The show tells the story of the last 10,000 people left on Earth who live deep underground in a “silo” that protects them from the toxic and deadly world above. Continues the Apple TV+ description: “However, no one knows when or why the silo was built, and any who try to find out face fatal consequences.
“Ferguson stars as Juliette, an engineer, who seeks answers about a loved one’s murder and tumbles onto a mystery that goes far deeper than she could have ever imagined, leading her to discover that if the lies don’t kill you, the truth will.”
As of this writing, the show already has a perfect 100% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes ahead of its debut on Friday, May 5, which is when two episodes will debut on Apple TV+ simultaneously. That will be followed by one new episode released weekly thereafter. “If you can accept the outlandish genre trappings and the largely dour tone,” an Empire Magazine reviewer opines, “there is a thrilling riddle to unfurl here, rich with real-world implications and analogies.”
Silo is created by Emmy-nominated screenwriter Graham Yost, whose previous credits include HBO’s Band of Brothers and the FX series Justified. He’s also the showrunner for the new Apple series. And besides Ferguson, the cast includes Common (The Chi), Harriet Walter (Succession), Chinaza Uche (Dickinson), Avi Nash (The Walking Dead), David Oyelowo (Selma), Rashida Jones (Parks and Recreation) and Tim Robbins (Mystic River).
Check out more images from Silo below:
