Chornobyl: Exclusion Zone

5 youths give chase after a man who has stolen 8 million rubles from them. The man reveals on his video blog his intention to travel to Chornobyl. With every kilometer the journey of the heroes becomes more dangerous and confusing.

Chornobyl: Exclusion Zone (2014-2019) is a Russian science fiction series created by Ilya Kulikov and Evgeniy Nikishov for TNT and Premier. Across three seasons and nineteen episodes, it follows a group of five youths, led by Pasha (Konstantin Davydov) and Gosha (Anvar Khalilulaev), who give chase after a man who has stolen eight million rubles from them. The thief broadcasts on his video blog that he is heading for the Chornobyl exclusion zone, and the young travelers follow him into a landscape that grows more dangerous and confusing with every kilometer. Their pursuit of money and a fugitive turns into a disorienting puzzle of altered time and shifting reality, with Kostenko (Evgeniy Stychkin) and Anya (Kristina Kazinskaya) among the principal figures tangled in the mystery. Each season deepens the strangeness, and the tone is eerie, brooding and tense, with a steady dread of radiation and the unknown. Fans of Dark, Chernobyl and Stalker will find resonance in its atmospheric slow burn, its layered mythology and its sense that a catastrophe's history still bends the present. The series is an ambitious three-season serialized mystery with a bittersweet close.

Audiences rate the series mixed, with the first season the strongest and the later seasons more uneven.

• Darkshared time travel mystery, disaster zone dread, serialized puzzle narrative
• Chernobylshared Chernobyl disaster setting, eerie exclusion zone atmosphere, Soviet-era dread
• Stalkershared young group venturing into a hostile forbidden zone, mounting supernatural unease

Created by

Ilya Kulikov, Evgeniy Nikishov

Release Date

2014-10-14

Episode runtime

48 min

Rating

6.5 / 10 (94)

What is Chornobyl: Exclusion Zone about?

Five young people chasing a thief who has vanished toward Chornobyl find their journey bending time and reality as the exclusion zone closes in.

What is Chornobyl: Exclusion Zone like to watch?

Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Chornobyl: Exclusion Zone as brisk, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as easy to follow.

Is Chornobyl: Exclusion Zone violent?

Somewhat. Ember rates the violence in Chornobyl: Exclusion Zone as moderate.

What did critics think of Chornobyl: Exclusion Zone?

Audiences rate the series mixed, with the first season the strongest and the later seasons more uneven.

Which shows are like Chornobyl: Exclusion Zone?

Shows with a similar feel include Dark, Chernobyl, and Stalker.

How long is Chornobyl: Exclusion Zone?

Chornobyl: Exclusion Zone: 3 seasons, 19 episodes.

Is Chornobyl: Exclusion Zone still running?

No, Chornobyl: Exclusion Zone has ended.