'Silo' explores post-apocalyptic life underground in new Apple TV+ series (trailer)

Maybe all the post-apocalyptic fiction out there is telling us something.

Let's be honest: As much as we'd love to predict a rosy utopian future for planet Earth, there's just not much drama for Hollywood to mine from that sort of hopeful, optimistic outlook, hence the proliferation of dire apocalyptic fare found in science fiction films and TV series these days.

It's within this grim dark arena that a new doomsday sci-fi series from Apple TV+ titled "Silo" will air on May 5, 2023. Adapted from the New York Times best-selling novels by American author Hugh Howey, the "Silo" trilogy consists of "Wool" (2011), "Shift" (2013) and "Dust" (2013) and centers around the final shreds of humanity attempting to survive inside a colossal, 144-level subterranean bunker and avoiding any attempts to venture outside to a frightening contaminated world.

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Promotional art for the upcoming Apple TV+ series "Silo." (Image credit: Apple TV+)

Here's the official synopsis:

"Silo" is the story of the last ten thousand people on earth, their mile-deep home protecting them from the toxic and deadly world outside. However, no one knows when or why the silo was built and any who try to find out face fatal consequences. Ferguson stars as Juliette, an engineer, who seeks answers about a loved one's murder and tumbles onto a mystery that goes far deeper than she could have ever imagined, leading her to discover that if the lies don't kill you, the truth will.

Created and penned by the Emmy-nominated Tinseltown screenwriter and producer Graham Yost, ("Speed," "Justified," "Broken Arrow," "Band of Brothers"), the 10-episode "Silo" series has hints of writer Blake Crouch's "Wayward Pines" novels and subsequent Fox TV series in its depiction of a settlement banned from leaving the confines of its safe haven for fear of the lethal future world lurking outside. 

"Silo" offers up an impressive all-star cast which includes Rebecca Ferguson, Common, Harriet Walter, Chinaza Uche, Avi Nash, David Oyelowo, Rashida Jones and the always-compelling Tim Robbins. Directorial duties will fall upon Academy Award nominee Morten Tyldum ('Defending Jacob," "The Imitation Game") and Hollywood veteran David Semel ("American Horror Story," "Roswell," "Watchmen"). 

Future subterranean living at its most crowded in "Silo." (Image credit: Apple TV+)

"Silo" is produced for Apple TV+ by AMC Studios and executive produced by Yost, Howey, Tyldum and Ferguson, with Nina Jack, Fred Golan, Rémi Aubuchon and Ingrid Escajeda.

Landing exclusively on Apple TV+, "Silo" premieres its first two episodes on May 5, 2023 followed by weekly chapters each Friday through June 30, 2023.

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Jeff Spry
Contributing Writer

Jeff Spry is an award-winning screenwriter and veteran freelance journalist covering TV, movies, video games, books, and comics. His work has appeared at SYFY Wire, Inverse, Collider, Bleeding Cool and elsewhere. Jeff lives in beautiful Bend, Oregon amid the ponderosa pines, classic muscle cars, a crypt of collector horror comics, and two loyal English Setters.