Canneseries Review: Stunning new Sci-Fi show 'Silo' promises to be bleak and brilliant
Apple TV+ brings the dystopian sci-fi blockbuster book series to the small screen and it has the potential to be a huge hit.
Right now, there seems to be a resurgence of entertainment options as studios attempt to pump out fun content over woke garbage. If you're looking for more post-apocalyptic bleakness after “The Last of Us” ended, Apple TV+ may have just the show for you. Based on the hugely popular books by Hugh Howey, “Silo” comes to the streaming service on May 5. Silo is a mystery. 10,000 people live together in an underground silo a mile below the Earth’s surface. Who made the silo? Nobody knows. Why are they in it? Nobody knows that either. What happens if you try to find out? Nothing good. So naturally, our characters try to find out.
If you're familiar with Hugh Howey's “Wool” and subsequent books, you'll already know: the Silo Trilogy – Wool, Shift and Dust – sold tons of copies to people who loved its dystopian Sci-Fi. But at the outset, all we know is that something horrible has happened and that the one place you don't want to be is outside the silo.
Apple TV+ has assembled quite the cast for its adaptation. Rebecca Ferguson appeared in “The White Queen”, “Dune”, “Men In Black: International” and two “Mission: Impossible” films. With “Silo” she's joined by Chinaza Uche (“A Good Person”), Avi Nash (“The Walking Dead”), Harriet Walker (“The Crown”, “Call The Midwife”, “Law & Order: UK”), Common (“John Wick”, “Selma”), Tim Robbins (where do I even start?) and Rashida Jones (“The Office US”, “Parks and Recreation”, “The Social Network” and more). This looks like another big-budget Apple TV+ epic, and let me tell you it’s as good as the teaser trailer suggests. Apple TV+'s on something of a roll right now, and it's clearly investing heavily in original content rather than just throwing lots of stuff at the wall in the hopes that something sticks. It may not be the most significant streaming service, but Apple TV+ is often the most interesting.
“Silo” looks loaded with potential for the episodes to come. It looks damn good. As I’ve said before, anything that is dark and mysterious is generally something to check out. That’s why the first seasons of “True Detective” and “Westworld” are both all-timers. This looks different but still has a similar vibe. I hate to sound like a broken record, but the formula for entertainment success isn’t terribly difficult. Just give fans something super fun. Give viewers something we can sink our teeth into. Nobody is watching TV to get a lecture. We’re watching to have a great time. That’s why “The Terminal List,” “Jack Ryan” and anything Taylor Sheridan touches is great. Those projects have one goal and one goal only: pure, unfiltered entertainment. “Silo” does the same, and it’s great, viewers are in for a really sinister and mind-bending ride in the series.
"Silo" streams on Apple TV+ from 5 May