[The dystopian drama spins class warfare into gold.]
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PORTSIDE CULTURE

REBECCA FERGUSON DELIVERS THE SCI-FI HERO WE NEED IN APPLE TV+’S
SILO  
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Leila Latif
May 5, 2023
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_ The dystopian drama spins class warfare into gold. _

Rebecca Ferguson in Silo, (Photo: Apple TV+)

 

Few actors can pull off what Rebecca Ferguson seems to do
effortlessly. Whether she’s facing sandworms in _Dune_ or sword
fighting in _Mission: Impossible_, she radiates a preternatural level
of strength. And when she appears in the final moments of the first
episode of Apple TV+’s _Silo_, she doesn't even have to speak:
Glistening with sweat, she turns to the camera with a piercing stare.
Immediately, it's clear the show has found its champion.

Ferguson plays Juliette, a hard-as-nails engineer working in The Silo,
a self-sustaining underground system where the remnants of humanity
live out their days. It has crops and cattle and is designed to
sustain life indefinitely, and it has functioned for over a century.
As we learn from a quasi-spiritual chant delivered in the opening
moments, “We do not know why we are here. We do not know who built
The Silo. We do not know why everything outside The Silo is how it is.
We do not know when it will be safe to go outside. We only know that
day is not this day.” The rules in this place are draconian, and one
exists above all others: If anyone says they want to leave, their
request is granted, and the rest of the population watches them march
out, only to be poisoned to death by the air.

While Ferguson (who also executive produces) dominates the majority of
the 10-episode season, the premiere focuses on Sheriff Holston (David
Oyelowo) and his IT worker wife, Alison (Rashida Jones). After the
couple is given permission to try for a baby, Alison has the mandatory
birth control extracted from her body for a period of three months.
But while trying to get pregnant, she starts noticing things are
amiss. Both what is happening in The Silo and outside in the world may
be far from what the residents (and the audience) have been told. As
new information emerges, Alison becomes increasingly desperate for the
truth.

The self-contained drama of the first episode is a compelling hook for
the series, and within Alison’s arc, the world is fully realized,
ready for Juliette’s entrance as she investigates the rot in The
Silo’s foundation. Jones brings her easy charm
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her character, which might make her seem like a natural audience
conduit to this post-apocalyptic dystopia. Skeptical of the powers
that be, Alison jumps to conclusions with zeal. She needs answers, and
she needs them now.

[Rashida Jones in Silo (Photo: Apple TV+)]

Rashida Jones in Silo (Photo: Apple TV+)

It’s a striking choice to pass the narrative baton to Juliette
instead, signaling that this series will upend expectations. In
contrast to Alison, Ferguson plays Juliette with grit and
determination. She’s spikier than Alison and much less obvious as a
surrogate for the viewer’s experience, but the series demonstrates
she’s the type of character who’s best equipped to navigate this
world of secrets and confusion. Most importantly, she’s meticulous,
and once she takes over the story, the drama unfolds patiently while
she gathers information. In fact, the third episode virtually grinds
to a halt, but the show layers in enough mystery to keep up the
intrigue as Juliette turns over every stone.

Bodies and conspiracies pile up, but _Silo_ always has a near-regal
air, guided by creator Graham Yost (_Justified_.) The show also gains
heft from its accomplished supporting cast, including Tim Robbins,
Harriet Walter, and Common. All these characters prove crucial to
answering Juliette’s questions: Who built The Silo? Why is everyone
inside it? What made the rest of the world a toxic wasteland? In her
quest to find out, Juliette also meets IT worker George (Ferdinand
Kingsley), who carries around banned objects from the “before
times”. Among his treasures, she finds an old hard drive that
contains secret information the authorities want kept from the
population at all costs.

However, like everything else on the show, the hard drive isn’t
quite what it seems. _Silo_ is not concerned with stuffing a complex
world into an easily digestible box and seeking out post-apocalyptic
happily-ever-afters. True to the spirit of the Hugh Howey novels on
which it’s based, this series is proper hard-core sci-fi, and every
detail of the dystopian nightmare is thought through with impressive
aplomb. The Silo itself is stunningly realized, with a true sense of
the scale of an ecosystem that could contain 10,000 lives. The
hierarchies of the society are equally detailed, with systems that
determine the comfort and opportunities of its inhabitants' existence.
Everything from fertility to furniture to food depends on the level at
which a person is allowed to live. At the bottom, where Juliette
begins, privileges are few and far between, but as she progresses
upwards it becomes apparent that even those at the top are in gilded
cages.

Unlike the clear “eat the rich
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satire of _Squid Game_
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or _The Menu_, _Silo_’s class structure has everyone suffocating
and bruised by the interminable weight of maintaining the status quo.
Much like in Apple TV+’s sister dystopian series _Severance_,
advancing within the system offers little respite from its broader
cruelty. Deep underground, the malaise seems airborne: Everyone from
engineers to sheriffs to mayors struggles to find a reason to survive.
Given the weight of despair, and the cruel fates that await so many in
this hellscape, the strength and serenity of Rebecca Ferguson’s
performance are all the more impressive. Even in the worst places, the
series suggests, some people are born heroes.

_Silo_ premieres May 5 on Apple TV+. Join the conversation about the
show in our forums.

_Leila Latif is Contributing Editor to Total Film, the host of Truth &
Movies: A Little White Lies Podcast and a regular at Sight and Sound,
Indiewire, The Guardian, The BBC and others. Follow her on
twitter @Leila_Latif [[link removed]]._

* class warfare
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* silo
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* apple tv+
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