Subterranean dystopia in new series Silo a cautionary political tale 

LOS ANGELES – The new post-apocalyptic drama Silo envisions a future in which the air on earth is so toxic that the last surviving humans must live in an underground silo.

But nothing is quite as it seems in this giant structure, where life is governed by repressive laws, information is tightly controlled and disobedience means being cast outside – effectively a death sentence.

Based on the 2011 best-selling Silo book series by Hugh Howey, the show stars Rebecca Ferguson as Juliette, an engineer working in the bowels of the silo, and Oscar winner Tim Robbins as Bernard, the community’s head of information technology. It premieres on Apple TV+ on Friday and also stars Rashida Jones, David Oyelowo and Common.

Chatting to reporters over Zoom, the actors say the story is a cautionary tale along the lines of classic dystopian novels such as George Orwell’s 1984 (1949) and Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World (1932).

And there are striking similarities with the world today.

“There are a lot of parallels, like when it comes to a government controlling the environment,” says Ferguson, whose character uncovers the silo’s secrets while investigating the death of a friend.

“And also the horror of the whole Covid-19 situation of being locked in,” adds the 39-year-old Swedish actress, who appeared in science-fiction drama Dune (2021) and spy thriller Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015).

Robbins, 64, thinks part of the fun for the audience is seeing those parallels themselves.

“The silo is a highly controlled society where, due to the fears of those who run it, there’s a certain amount of repression, a tight control of information and the censorship that goes along with that,” says the American actor, who starred in prison drama The Shawshank Redemption (1994) and won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for the crime film Mystic River (2003).

He adds: “There’s a narrative that the powers that be are constantly encouraging, and the question from the very start is: What is the truth?

“And what do you do if the truth could lead to the safety of 10,000 people being compromised? This is one of the things my character has to deal with.”

Bernard is one of those trying to keep a lid on things, but Robbins believes the Bernards of the real world “are the people you don’t know about”.

“I think the politicians and business leaders that you are aware of are frontmen for agendas or narratives that they are put in power to uphold and promote,” says the star, who also directed the acclaimed crime film Dead Man Walking (1995).

“But it’s the Bernards who are behind the scenes writing the script.”

Silo also “imagines a world that we would never want to live in”, adds Robbins.

“In that way, it’s like cautionary tales such as 1984 or Brave New World, whose purpose is to serve as a literary warning to people so that they never make compromises to their own freedom that would lead to a situation like this.”

Howey, the American writer who began the Silo book series with standalone short story Wool and has since self-published eight more novels, believes the books have resonated with readers more in recent years.

“Because some of what I wrote was really speculative – the idea of gathering data on people, of seeing the world through screens. These concepts have become stronger and the fascination with them is more intense,” says the 47-year-old, who was consulted by the show’s writers and served as an executive producer.

“I think as reality catches up with science fiction, we become more interested in these types of stories. They’re not as fanciful any more, they’re more immediate.”

But while many elements of this story are unthinkable, at its core is a study of the human condition.

“While the world seems very bizarre, you actually get to see humanity in its purest form come out of these stressful situations,” says Howey.

“So I love writing sci-fi, but I want to write about who we are, how we treat one another and how we solve problems. And creating a pressure cooker like we do with the silo gives us the opportunity to explore all of that.”

Silo premieres on Apple TV+ on Friday.