Silo Trailer: Rebecca Ferguson Uncovers A Dystopian Conspiracy In Apple's New Sci-Fi Series
It's a dystopian tale as old as time: in the post-apocalyptic future, Earth's populace is controlled by an authoritarian leadership that imposes a series of rigid rules that purport to protect them from an inhospitable, perhaps uninhabitable outside world. We've seen many iterations of this, from the hedonistic society of "Logan's Run" to the ramshackle hell of "12 Monkeys." It's an evergreen concept, one that responds to the fears of humans as we barrel forward with blithe disregard to our seemingly inevitable doom.
Hugh Howey's "Silo" series of novels is a fairly familiar take on this premise. In his first installment, which became a self-publishing phenomenon via Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing imprint in 2012, we're introduced to a society that exists 144 stories beneath the Earth's surface. While its denizens are being housed for their own protection from the toxic world above, every now and then some curious individual asks to go topside. They never return, and are presumed dead.
20th Century Fox and Scott Free acquired the film rights to "Silo" in 2012, but the project's development stalled when the studio was gobbled up by Disney. A decade later, the books are getting the live-action series treatment from Apple TV+ and "Justified" creator Graham Yost. They've assembled a heckuva cast in Rebecca Ferguson, David Oyelowo, Rashida Jones, Harriet Walter, Common and Tim Robbins. The official trailer just dropped, and it looks... well, let's watch together.
If the lies don't kill you, the truth will
The coolest twist here is that none of the Silo's inhabitants seems to have a clue as to how or why they're living underground. This appears to be the central mystery of the series, which, should the show become a hit, could be accordioned out over multiple seasons. I'm not a huge fan of this kind of storytelling, but Yost orchestrated six brilliant seasons of "Justified," so he will always get the benefit of the doubt.
The powerhouse cast lends the trailer an immediate air of gravitas. Ferguson is coming off a career-best performance as Lady Jessica in Denis Villeneuve's "Dune," so I'm thrilled to watch her in anything at this point. The rest of the actors are terrific, but she's got the sizzle factor here.
I'm also interested to see how Yost and company comment on our current planetary predicament. As we contend in reality with, per the findings of the United Nation's International Panel on Climate Change, a looming environmental crisis that will gradually render many areas of the globe uninhabitable, a show like "Silo" holds the potential to critique the head-in-the-sand approach being adopted by to many of our fellow humans. It could also stoke the paranoia of climate denialists. In Yost we must trust.
"Silo" hits Apple TV+ on May 5, 2023.