Chernobyl Diaries

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Chernobyl Diaries

R

2012

1h 26m

Horror

Mystery & Thriller

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

18%

Tomatometer

91 Reviews

28%

Popcornmeter

100,000+ Ratings

A group of young tourists (Ingrid Bolsø Berdal, Jonathan Sadowski, Devin Kelley), hoping for an adventure off the beaten path, hires an extreme-tour guide. In spite of warnings, the tour guide takes the sightseers to the town of Pripyat, Ukraine, once home to workers at the nearby Chernobyl nuclear power plant but abandoned after the 1986 nuclear disaster. After briefly exploring the ghost town, the tourists find themselves stranded -- and worse, they are not alone.

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Critics Consensus

Despite an interesting premise and spooky atmospherics, Chernobyl Diaries is mostly short on suspense and originality.

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Mark Kermode

Observer (UK)

There's a great idea hiding in there somewhere - shame they didn't find it.

Jun 24, 2012

Full Review

Tim Robey

Daily Telegraph (UK)

For a film with radioactive bears running around, it's often strangely dull, though the final descent into the concrete maw of the reactor itself is memorably hellish.

Rated: 3/5

Jun 22, 2012

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Peter Bradshaw

Guardian

There is a scary and surreal appearance by a bear.

Rated: 2/5

Jun 21, 2012

Full Review

Patrick Cavanaugh

The Wolfman Cometh

Are arbitrarily blend of cinematic and narrative tropes that fails to make good on any of the inherent storytelling potential within the locale.

Rated: 2/5

Sep 22, 2023

Full Review

Iván Kazi

EscribiendoCine

Suspense is inexistent. [Full review in Spanish]

Rated: 4/10

Jun 13, 2023

Full Review

Keith Garlington

Keith & the Movies

One good thing about “Chernobyl Diaries” that it doesn’t prolong the agony. At a running time of under 90 minutes, I was quickly able to go about my business of forgetting the forgettable.

Rated: 1.5/5

Aug 19, 2022

Full Review

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Steven W

Pretty good and scary and love it.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

11/20/25

Full Review

Jaime A

I know the movie is stupid, but I don’t know what it has to maintain me to watch it again, the acting is bad but doesn’t affect so bad the movie, is fun to watch, not to take it seriously.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

05/22/25

Full Review

Audience Member

Never understood the hate for this movie. It’s super entertaining and the acting is very good. The storyline could be better, but there’s not a single part of this movie that isn’t entertaining.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

05/10/25

Full Review

Phùng Đ

There is no explanation whatsoever about that "thing" the characters faced. The movie is just crazy from start to finish.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

11/15/24

Full Review

Gaming U

Crazy movie from start to finish

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/09/24

Full Review

Jamie L

I was not bored for a second during this movie. Not sure why everyone seems to hate it.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

12/31/23

Full Review

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Bradley Parker

Director

Ingrid Bolsø Berdal

Zoe

Jonathan Sadowski

Paul

Devin Kelley

Amanda

Jesse McCartney

Chris

Olivia Taylor Dudley

Natalie

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Synopsis

A group of young tourists (Ingrid Bolsø Berdal, Jonathan Sadowski, Devin Kelley), hoping for an adventure off the beaten path, hires an extreme-tour guide. In spite of warnings, the tour guide takes the sightseers to the town of Pripyat, Ukraine, once home to workers at the nearby Chernobyl nuclear power plant but abandoned after the 1986 nuclear disaster. After briefly exploring the ghost town, the tourists find themselves stranded -- and worse, they are not alone.

Director: Bradley Parker
Producer: Oren Peli, Brian Witten
Screenwriter: Oren Peli, Carey Van Dyke, Shane Van Dyke
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Production Co: Oren Peli, E1 Entertainment, Brian Witten Pictures
Rating: R (Some Bloody Images|Pervasive Language|Violence)
Genre: Horror, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): May 25, 2012, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 7, 2014
Box Office (Gross USA): $18.1M
Runtime: 1h 26m

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