(SPOT.ph) Disaster movies and TV shows have their own ways of keeping you on the edge of your seat—sometimes even making you watch through your fingers (or if you're inspired by Bird Box, blindfolds). But what makes them even spine-tingling is when they're actually based on events that happened in real life. HBO's new miniseries, Chernobyl, dramaticizes the horrific events of the nuclear meltdown that happened in 1986. It's set to premiere on May 6, and it'll be available for streaming on HBO Go.
The five-episode miniseries is set in Ukraine, where the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant explodes and releases radioactive material throughout Western Europe. It follows the story of Valery Legasov (Jared Harris from The Crown and Mad Men), a leading nuclear physicist who is one of the first to see the catastrophic effects of the accident. Emily Watson (Hilary and Jackie, Breaking the Waves) also plays a nuclear physicist who tries to figure out what led to the explosion. Stellan Skarsgard (Good Will Hunting, Thor, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest) plays the Prime Minister tasked to handle the aftermath.Â
The chilling story will be brought to life by some of the people behind some award-winning shows—it's directed by Johan Renck who's worked on Breaking Bad. Producers include Craig Mazin (The Huntsman: Winter's War), Game of Thrones' Carolyn Strauss, and Black Mirror's Sanne Wohlenberg, to name a few.
Chernobyl premieres on May 6.
