Apple TV+’s ‘Silo’ depicts the future of underground life

Dystopian storytelling this month, apple TV+’ssilo,” a fascinating and ambitious story earthThe last group living far below the surface of the earth.

10,000 people are hiding in huge underground silos a mile deep until they can safely escape because something terrible has happened that makes the environment toxic. They grow food, maintain giant generators for electricity, and recycle everything.

But there’s also a sense of dread here, and secrets, mysteries, and questionable murders.What on earth has happened to Earth? What is this story about a 140-year-old rebellion? Where are all the books? Can you trust what the government says?

“Life in the silo is very good in many ways. I feel like we have this common mission,” says creator and showrunner Graham Yost.

“Just realize there was a little eugenics program that tried to breed curiosity, independence, meanness, all those pesky human things. can also be obtained.”

One of those rebels is the heroine of the 10-part series, a woman named Juliet, an engineer with a tragic childhood who seeks answers about Silo.she is played by Rebecca Fergusonshe says she was drawn to its complexity.

“What if you and I were trapped in a silo right now and had to evolve and survive? meeting people. It’s going to be havoc,” says the actor known for his films “Dune” and “Mission: Impossible.”

Based on Hugh Howie’s bestselling trilogy, “Silo” also stars Tim Robbins, Common, David Oyelowo, Rashida Jones and Will Patton. The first two episodes of him drop on Friday.

This is world-building that slowly unfolds. There are familiar ones, such as a tattoo artist, a policeman complaining about paperwork and an ice tray, but also a few different notes. don’t know. It is a so-called old relic, and it is illegal to own it.

The series contains two opposing philosophical ideas: that humanity is good, it is society that makes it worse, men and women are fundamentally evil, and society tame them. increase.

The people inside the silo, said to be a wasteland outside, have formed a system of government that, like East Germany in the 1980s, can be liberally called a soft dictatorship. Anyone who questions the system is exiled — sent to what appears to be a wasteland, where everyone inside watches them crumple and die within minutes.

“Life in the silo isn’t terrible, but it’s not great either. Something’s wrong, and the battle between truth and order is something that’s going on throughout the series,” says Yost.

There have been previous attempts to bring Howey’s books to the big screen, but Yost thinks a 10-hour TV series would be best, with Juliet only appearing in the final minutes of the first episode to take over. It also includes reflecting the book by

“It’s bold. It makes sense,” says Ferguson. “It’s a story that’s built around a world that doesn’t automatically have to look through the lens of the character that’s trying to pull you in. I love that in the storytelling.”

Life in the silo is carefully crafted. Most items are made of metal and plastic. Because it is difficult to grow trees for timber underground. Gravel and dirt, dim lighting, and a grand winding staircase that connects 144 concrete levels with middle- and working-class workers below.

When the audience first met Juliet, she was the chief engineer at the bottom keeping the generator running. So do bureaucrats and leaders.

“I like the idea of ​​a reluctant hero,” says Yost. “She wasn’t meant to be a hero. It was pushed to her reluctantly. And that’s the sort of hero we want to write.”

He hopes to be rewarded with a second, third and fourth season to clean up this underworld. He hopes fans will also turn to the original books — with one request.

“Like I said to Hugh, I said, ‘I want everyone watching this show to read the book after they’re done.'”

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Mark Kennedy is at http://twitter.com/KennedyTwits