Technical Assessment: 2.5
Moral Assessment: 2
Moral Assessment: 2
CINEMA Rating: V18
Four young Americans Chris (Jessy McCartney), Natalie
(Olivia Taylor Dudley), Amanda (Devin Kelley) and Paul (Jonathan Sadowski) decide
to go for an “extreme tour” of Pripyat, a Ukrainian city which was home to
Chernobyl nuclear power plant workers. It has been abandoned after the infamous
disaster from one of Chernobyl’s nuclear reactors 25 years ago. While the
government allows tourists to visit the area, there are strict security measures.
The tourists were joined by a honeymooning couple (Nathan Phillips) and Zoe
(Ingrid Bolsø Berdal) from Australia and led by tour guide Uri (Dimitri
Diatchenko) who is an ex-special forces soldier. They were denied access to the
town by guards at the checkpoint and Uri manages to get them in through the
woods. The tourists wander through abandoned playgrounds and buildings and saw
the Chernobyl reactors from the balcony. Suddenly, they hear strange noises and
hurry back to their van but it won’t start. Dark descends and it becomes clear
to them that the town is not as deserted as they were made to believe.
The first part of the movie
does well in showing the devastation caused by the nuclear disaster – the
playground scene is eerie and the viewer somehow gets the feel of being there. Lights,
sound effects and the music score are predictable but they do establish
atmosphere and succeed in some tension-filled scenes. The handheld camera throughout
the movie can give you a headache. The characters are not developed and the
actors didn’t have any good material to show their worth. The storyline is
pitiful, the dialogue stunted and filled with foul language, the violence is
senseless. And the scary moments are predictable – nothing new here.
What message can you get from
a horror movie when it is not even clear what you should fear? Are they wild
animals, mutants and monsters or all of the above? We all fear the unknown but
it also excites us. For these young people spontaneity and the need for novel
experiences, off the beaten track tours like Pripyat can be exhilarating. But one
needs to look out for safety precautions and ensure not just enjoyment but also
greater enrichment in the experience. And when things get out of hand, the best
thing to do is to think or listen to your natural instinct for
self-preservation. This, the characters failed to do.
The story started with a lot
of promise, given the Chernobyl disaster and its aftermath. It is a shame that
this was not developed to its full potential.
If you are looking for a good
thrill, CINEMA does not recommend Chernobyl
Diaries.
