Silo TV review — Apple’s new sci-fi is filled with conspiracy and claustrophobia

In Silo, life goes on at 6,000 feet under. The claustrophobic new sci-fi series on Apple TV Plus is set in a subterranean, stratified state where the last humans have been sheltering ever since an unspecified cataclysmic event in the distant past rendered Earth’s surface uninhabitable.

Not that The Silo itself is what you’d call liveable. The atmosphere within the colony is unremittingly oppressive: environmentally, aesthetically, politically. That there’s no natural light — just screens projecting an ostensible live feed of the wasteland above — is only exacerbated by a colour scheme that Pantone might have dubbed Dystopian Beige and Soviet Grey. Other kinds of illumination are also hard to come by. The whens, whats, wheres and whys of this world remain a mystery to its denizens, who know that asking too many questions will be punished by the powers that be.

Given the consequences that befall those who pursue the truth about the “before times” and the agendas of the ruling “Judicial” class, there’s a rapid turnover of lead characters in early episodes. At first we follow IT worker Allison (Rashida Jones), who comes across a contraband computer drive containing information that challenges Silo dogmas. It’s only after she’s exiled for speaking out that her husband Holston (David Oyelowo), a starchy sheriff, begins to realise that his work protects not only laws, but lies. Eventually, Silo settles on mechanic Juliette (Rebecca Ferguson) as its gruff, gritty heroine, whose personal investigation into the apparent murder of her boyfriend seems set to expose much larger conspiracies.

Silo has a strong cast, an effectively realised world and a pervasive sense of suspicion and suspense, but it also begins to test your patience before it even reaches the halfway point of a 10-episode run. The series can feel wilfully slow and solemn, the characters crushingly earnest. But anyone who has ever found themselves lost in the labyrinthine sprawl of London Underground’s Bank station should be able to relate to their woes.

★★★☆☆

First two episodes on Apple TV Plus from May 5; new episodes released weekly

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