Silo (TV series)

Silo
Genre	Science fiction Dystopian Drama
Created by	Graham Yost
Based on	Silo series by Hugh Howey
Starring	Rebecca Ferguson Rashida Jones David Oyelowo Common Tim Robbins Harriet Walter Avi Nash Rick Gomez Chinaza Uche
Composer(s)	Atli Örvarsson
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	7
Production
Executive producer(s)	Graham Yost Morten Tyldum Rebecca Ferguson Nina Jack Hugh Howey Fred Golan Remi Aubuchon Ingrid Escajeda
Producer(s)	Cassie Pappas Jessica Blaire Aric Avelino
Production location(s)	United Kingdom
Cinematography	Mark Patten David Luther Laurie Rose
Editor(s)	Hazel Baillie Christian Sandino Taylor Keith Henderson
Running time	45–62 minutes
Production company(s)	Mímir Films Nemo Films AMC Studios
Release
Original network	Apple TV+
Original release	May 5, 2023 (2023-05-05) – present (present)
External links
[{{#property:P856}} Website]

Silo is an American science fiction dystopian television series created by Graham Yost based on the Wool series of novels by author Hugh Howey. It stars Rebecca Ferguson, who is also an executive producer. It premiered on Apple TV+ on May 5, 2023. A second season is in development.

Premise

In a dystopian future where a community exists in a giant silo that extends hundreds of stories underground, 10,000 people live in a society bound by regulations they believe are meant to protect them.

Cast and characters

Main

• Rebecca Ferguson as Juliette Nichols, an engineer who works on the generators in the lowest levels of the Silo
  • Amelie Child-Villiers portrays a young Juliette
• Rashida Jones as Allison Becker, the wife of Holston who works in the IT department in the Silo. During her attempts to conceive a child, she becomes suspicious of the Silo's true history and how it is governed.
• David Oyelowo as Holston Becker, the devoted husband of Allison and the sheriff of the Silo
• Common as Robert Sims, the head of security for the Silo
• Tim Robbins as Bernard Holland, the strict head of the IT Department in the Silo
• Harriet Walter as Martha Walker, an electrical engineer who runs a workshop in the lower levels of the Silo and acts as a parental figure to Juliette
• Avi Nash as Lukas Kyle, a systems analyst in the IT Department who is curious about the world outside the Silo
• Rick Gomez as Patrick Kennedy, a maintenance worker and former smuggler of "relics", objects from the world before the Silo
• Chinaza Uche as Paul Billings, the newly assigned chief deputy sheriff and a former Judicial enforcer

Recurring

• Will Patton as Samuel "Sam" Marnes, a deputy who works under Sheriff Holston and closely with Mayor Jahns
• Billy Postlethwaite as Hank, a deputy who works in the lower levels
• Chipo Chung as Sandy, a clerical worker in the sheriff's department

Guest

• Geraldine James as Ruth Jahns, the elected mayor of the Silo
• Sophie Thompson as Gloria Hildebrandt, a paranoid woman who became the Silo's fertility counselor after failing to conceive a child herself
• Ferdinand Kingsley as George Wilkins, a computer geek who runs a repair shop. He seeks out Allison for her help to uncover the secrets of the Silo.
• Shane McRae as Knox, the head of the mechanical level in the Silo and Juliette's boss
  • Charlie Coombes portrays a young Knox
• Remmie Milner as Shirley, an engineer and one of Juliette's colleagues
  • Ida Brooke portrays a young Shirley
• Matt Gomez Hidaka as Cooper, a rookie engineer in the lower levels and Juliette's shadow
• Iain Glen as Dr. Pete Nichols, an obstetrician and the father of Juliette, who has been estranged from her since she was a teenager
• Sienna Guillory as Hanna Nichols, Juliette's deceased mother
• Henry Garrett as Douglas Trumbull, an enforcer for Judicial who is loyal to Sims
• Tanya Moodie as Judge Meadows, the head of Judicial who enforces the Pact, a list of rules that all Silo residents must follow
• Caitlin Zoz as Kathleen Billings, Paul's wife and the mother of their daughter
• Sonita Henry as Regina Jackson, a former relic dealer and lover of George Wilkins

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
1	"Freedom Day"	Morten Tyldum	Graham Yost	May 5, 2023 (2023-05-05)
In a massive underground bunker called the "Silo", a community thrives without knowing their history, as all records were supposedly destroyed 140 years earlier during a failed rebellion uprising. Sheriff Holston tells Deputy Sam that he wants to "go out". Three years earlier, Holston and his wife Allison receive permission to try to become pregnant, but are unsuccessful. During this time Allison learns subversive beliefs about the Silo from Gloria, a fertility expert, and helps a man named George Wilkins explore a forbidden hard drive dating from before the rebellion. Allison tells a skeptical Holston her belief that the people in power have been lying to them and that the view on Silo's screens of a dead outside world are fake. Allison declares that she wants to "go out", and promises to only clean the Silo's external camera if the outside is beautiful. In accordance with the Silo's Pact, Allison is allowed to leave on a one-way journey. The Silo residents watch as she cleans the camera but collapses shortly after. Two years later, Holston investigates George's death, and meets an engineer named Juliette who claims he was murdered.
2	"Holston's Pick"	Morten Tyldum	Jessica Blaire & Cassie Pappas	May 5, 2023 (2023-05-05)
Holston learns from Juliette that George, her lover, collected forbidden historical relics. Upon learning that George and Allison worked together, Holston agrees to investigate and promises to send Juliette a signal when he finds something. A few months later, Holston leaves the Silo and is shocked to see that the outside is lush and beautiful like Allison claimed. He cleans the camera, takes off his helmet, and crawls to Allison's body before dying. Mayor Ruth Jahns learns that Holston left behind a statement nominating Juliette to be his replacement as sheriff. Juliette knows that George was looking for a door, and tries to retrace his steps in the watery dig space underneath the Silo.
3	"Machines"	Morten Tyldum	Ingrid Escajeda	May 12, 2023 (2023-05-12)
Ruth and Sam trek down 144 levels to meet Juliette. Along the way, Ruth meets Juliette's estranged father, Dr. Pete Nichols, and Juliette's engineer friend, Martha Walker, for opinions of Juliette's character. Despite the disapproval of Judge Meadows, head of Judicial, and Bernard Holland, head of IT, Ruth offers Juliette the role of sheriff. Juliette initially declines but changes her mind when she's given Holston's badge, which has the word "TRUTH" carved on the back. Juliette requests that Ruth allow the main generator to be switched off for repairs, which has never been done in living memory. At shutdown, the Silo's screens briefly show a healthy green view of the outside. The Mechnical team successfully fixes the main generator. Before leaving for her new job, Juliette asks Martha to study a camcorder she found among George's relics. Ruth collapses with blood in her mouth.
4	"Truth"	David Semel	Remi Aubuchon	May 19, 2023 (2023-05-19)
Ruth is dead; Sam believes she was poisoned, and that he was the real target because they drank from each other's water flasks. Bernard, as Mayor Pro Tem, signs Juliette in as the new sheriff. Juliette asks Sam to help her investigate George's death, in return for her helping him investigate Ruth's death. Robert Sims, of Judicial, tells Sam that Judge Meadows is ready to remove Juliette as sheriff, but Sam tells him to let Juliette quit on her own. Later, Sam is attacked in his apartment. Juliette meets Lukas, a resident who spends late nights in the cafeteria. Juliette finds Holston's file on George, but cannot find George's hard drive that Holston confiscated. In flashback, Juliette leaves home at thirteen after the deaths of her mother, Hanna, and younger brother, Jacob.
5	"The Janitor's Boy"	David Semel	Graham Yost	May 26, 2023 (2023-05-26)
Sam is found dead. Paul Billings, Judicial's original choice for sheriff, is made Juliette's chief deputy. Sandy, who works in the sheriff's office, tells Juliette to find Sam's killer before Judicial picks a scapegoat. Juliette discovers that Doug Trumbull, who works for Judicial, planted evidence to frame a resident for Sam's murder. Robert tells Doug that his father was supposedly a janitor but in actuality had a secret job that was crucial to the Silo's survival. Robert kills Doug before he can be arrested, and Doug is posthumously blamed for Sam and Ruth's murders. Juliette learns that Lukas has been studying the cafeteria's display screens at night to observe the movement of the "lights" in the sky, Silo residents being ignorant that these lights are stars. Martha shows Juliette that the camcorder's technology is more advanced than what is typical and permitted in the Silo. Juliette retrieves one of George's relics in the hopes of reopening the investigation into his death.
6	"The Relic"	Bert & Bertie	Aric Avelino	June 2, 2023 (2023-06-02)
Juliette arranges for the relic to be found in Doug's apartment, and uses it as an excuse to track down supposed relic dealer Regina Jackson, who turns out to be George's previous lover who bought relics for him. Robert learns about George's connection to the relic and formally confronts Juliette; Bernard accepts Juliette's claim that she didn't plant the relic, but he orders her to stop investigating Doug's motives for murdering Ruth and Sam. Juliette and Paul argue over her difficulty in trusting him, and she reveals that she knows he has the Syndrome, a medical condition which should disqualify him from being a deputy. Regina tells Juliette that she didn't report George's hard drive to Judicial, but she did tell "the man who knows everything" about it, after he threatened her loved ones. Regina gives Juliette a cherished relic she received from George: a children's travelbook dating from before the Silo. While Juliette browses the book in her apartment, she is watched by a surveillance team that has numerous cameras all over the Silo, with equipment much more advanced than the rest of the Silo.
7	"The Flamekeepers"	Bert & Bertie	Jessica Blaire	June 9, 2023 (2023-06-09)
Robert is part of the surveillance team and monitors Juliette's movements via the cameras. Juliette seeks out Gloria, who is being kept drugged on Meadows' order. Despite Juliette's offer to resign as sheriff, Meadows says she can't lift the order. Paul confronts Juliette when she neglects her duties; she tells him about her investigation into George's murder, and he decides to cover for her. Lukas tries to kiss Juliette, but she rebuffs him. Bernard tells Juliette that he fears Meadows will move against them, and encourages her to find a way to control Meadows. With her father's help, Juliette is able to question Gloria, and learns that she is part of the Flamekeepers ― a secret group dedicated to remembering the past, and whose members are being systematically wiped out. Juliette's mother befriended Flamekeepers, but Juliette's father helped the Silo prevent Flamekeepers from having children. Juliette realizes that surveillance cameras are behind the Silo's wall mirrors, and retrieves George's hard drive from where Holston hid it in Gloria's room. Robert's raiders arrive at Gloria's room to apprehend Juliette, who isn't there.
8	"Hanna"	TBA	Jeffery Wang & Ingrid Escajeda	June 16, 2023 (2023-06-16)
9	"The Getaway"	TBA	Lekethia Dalcoe	June 23, 2023 (2023-06-23)
10	"Outside"	TBA	Fred Golan	June 30, 2023 (2023-06-30)

Production

Development

The project’s development was announced as a feature film at 20th Century Fox, which entered negotiations to acquire the self-published e-book Wool by Hugh Howey on May 11, 2012. Five days later, 20th Century Fox acquired the rights, with Ridley Scott and Steven Zaillian among those attached to produce. On November 28, it was announced that J Blakeson was in negotiations to write and direct. It was then announced on June 5, 2015 that Nicole Perlman would rewrite the screenplay, with Blakeson no longer involved in the project. The film was ultimately shelved as a result of the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney.

By July 30, 2018, a new iteration of the project was in development for television at AMC, with LaToya Morgan attached to write under her overall deal at AMC Studios. The series eventually moved to Apple TV+ on May 20, 2021, receiving an order for ten episodes. Graham Yost to replace Morgan as creator and writer, marking his third series at Apple TV+ under his overall deal with the network. Morten Tyldum was also attached to direct and executive produce, with Yost as showrunner.

Casting

With the series order announcement, it was also announced that Rebecca Ferguson had been cast in a lead role. Tim Robbins joined the cast in August, 2021, and Rashida Jones, David Oyelowo, Common, Harriet Walter, Avi Nash and Chinaza Uche joined in the following months.

Filming

Principal photography began in late August 2021 in Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire, and was scheduled to last until the second quarter of 2022. Mark Patten, David Luther, and Laurie Rose were cinematographers.

The second season began filming by mid-April 2023.

Music

In March 2023, Atli Örvarsson was announced as the series' composer. He collaborated with Tyldum on the Apple TV+ series Defending Jacob.

SILO: Season 1 (Apple TV+ Original Series Soundtrack)
No.	Title	Length
1.	"SILO Main Title"	1:39
2.	"Irrevocable"	3:10
3.	"I Want to Go Out"	1:32
4.	"Juliette"	1:24
5.	"Overheating"	3:25
6.	"Amazing Adventures"	2:13
7.	"Spoken Request"	4:24
8.	"The Syndrome"	1:58
9.	"Night Lights"	2:28
10.	"Unsee"	2:48
11.	"Time With You"	3:04
12.	"Dr. Nichols"	3:46
13.	"We Do Not Know"	3:54
14.	"Last Request"	2:55
15.	"Leaving the Silo"	3:26
16.	"They're Lying"	2:12
17.	"The Descent"	2:41
18.	"Race to the Top"	2:04
19.	"Chit Chat"	2:51
20.	"Under Control"	2:27
Total length:		54:21

Reception

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 87% approval rating with an average rating of 7.4/10, based on 53 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "With deft writing, awe-inspiring production design and the inestimable star power of Rebecca Ferguson, Silo is a mystery box well worth opening." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 75 out of 100 based on 20 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Release

Silo had its special screening during the 2023 Canneseries on April 14, 2023. The television series was released on Apple TV+ on May 5, 2023, with the first two episodes set to be available immediately and the rest scheduled to debut on a weekly basis until June 30.

External links

• Official website
• Silo at IMDb