Chernobyl Diaries

Chernobyl Diaries is currently streaming in Australia on Amazon Prime Video, and in the UK on Studiocanal Presents Amazon Channel, and its case-by-case structure never gets in the way of the bigger story. The length is exactly right for the story it is telling — nothing rushed, nothing dragged out. Its 5/10 TMDB score, built from 1,708 ratings, reflects a title that consistently delivers. Olivia Taylor Dudley leads a cast that carries the story without ever feeling mechanical. Start it on Amazon Prime Video whenever you need something guaranteed to land.

Part of the current wave of titles people are actually watching, Chernobyl Diaries earns its spot. The plotting gives Chernobyl Diaries its backbone, but it is the characters you come back for. A group of six tourists looking to go off the beaten path, hire an 'extreme tour guide' who, ignoring warnings, takes them into the city of Pripyat, the former home to the workers of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor, but now a deserted town since the disaster more than 25 years earlier. After a brief exploration of the abandoned city, the group members find themselves stranded, only to discover that they are not alone. Olivia Taylor Dudley and Jesse McCartney lead a cast that brings real weight to the material. It was released in 2012. What makes Chernobyl Diaries hold up is that the resolution matters less than how the characters get there. It knows exactly what it is, and does not try to be anything else.

If you cannot walk away from a good mystery, Chernobyl Diaries will keep you hooked. It does not lean on comparisons to make its case. Best experienced as a single, sustained watch from start to finish. Watch Olivia Taylor Dudley work — it is a masterclass in the genre. Few crime dramas earn their twists this consistently.