Chernobyl DiariesMovie Reviews

No
Avg. Critic Score: 32 out of 100 Generally unfavorable reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
16 Iffy for 16+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 67
    Entertainment Weekly |

    If nowhere near as scary as the original Paranormal, the result is superior to many of the low-budget terror flicks that have arrived since (yes, The Devil Inside, we're talking about you) and benefits hugely from Dimitri Diatchenko's performance as moviedom's Worst. Tour. Guide. Ever. Read full review

  • 60
    The Hollywood Reporter | Frank Scheck

    The novelty of the setting ultimately proves highly effective. Shot mainly in Eastern European locations that effectively stand in for Prypiat, which is now actually a tourist site, the film is highly convincing in its verisimilitude. Read full review

  • 50
    ReelViews | James Berardinelli

    Chernobyl Diaries is afflicted with a fatal flaw that damages many horror films: after a better-than-average setup and a promising first half, everything falls apart. Read full review

  • 40
    Time Out New York | Hank Sartin

    If, as some critics have claimed, "The Cabin in the Woods" made the horror genre obsolete, someone forgot to tell screenwriter Oren Peli. Read full review

  • 40
    Movieline |

    The problem with Chernobyl Diaries isn't that it's offensive, it's that it's dumb. Read full review

  • 40
    Arizona Republic | Bill Goodykoontz

    In Chernobyl Diaries, directed by Bradley Parker, stupidity is taken to extremes. Read full review

  • 38
    Washington Post | Michael O'Sullivan

    There's a nagging question at the heart of Chernobyl Diaries. It isn't what, or who, is stalking these kids. After awhile, the answer becomes apparent, leading to a denouement that, while mildly exciting, feels like a ride you've been on before. Read full review

  • 38
    USA Today | Claudia Puig

    Despite an unlikely setting and a moderately intriguing premise, Chernobyl Diaries proves to be a generic horror flick where young tourists are systematically victimized in unoriginal and not terribly scary ways. Read full review

  • 25
    Boston Globe | Wesley Morris

    The movie wants us to find this frightening, but there's no suspense, no terrifying images. Read full review

  • 12
    Slant Magazine | Nick Schager

    With the faux-verité aesthetics of [Rec], the American-tourists-in-Eastern-European-hell setup of Hostel, and the brain of a mushy radioactive mutant zombie thingie, Chernobyl Diaries is little more than decomposed horror leftovers. Read full review

View more reviews for Chernobyl Diaries on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says Iffy for 16+ Radioactive mutants attack in waste-of-time horror movie.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that Chernobyl Diaries is a horror movie about young people who decide to tour the abandoned towns near the infamous nuclear power plant. Some of the violence, including attacks by wolves and radioactive mutants, is more suggested than shown, but the movie still has plenty of blood, gore, and dead bodies. A gun is also fired many times. Language is strong, with frequent uses of "f--k" and "s--t" throughout. There's some sexual innuendo and kissing in the beginning, as well as some drinking (and hangovers). Chernobyl Diaries comes from the creator of Paranormal Activity, but it isn't anywhere near as creative as that film or its sequels.
  • Families can talk about the movie's violence. What's shown, and what's suggested? Which is scarier? Why? Is the movie scary? Or is it more suspenseful? What's the difference?
  • What do you think about the choice to set a horror movie in a place where a real-life disaster took so many lives?
  • Do the characters make reasonable decisions throughout the story? What are some choices they could have made differently?
The good stuff
  • message true0 Positive messages: Aside from warning viewers not to enter an abandoned area contaminated by nuclear fallout, the movie has very little to say.
  • rolemodels true0 Positive role models: Characters argue and make poor decisions while failing to work together. Characters occasionally try to act heroically, but often these aren't the right decisions.
What to watch for
  • violence false4 Violence: Dead bodies, both humans and animals, are shown. A character has a gory leg wound with a bone sticking out. Guns are fired, and one character is shot. Wolves and radioactive mutants attack. Characters get radiation burns on their skin.
  • sex false1 Sexy stuff: Some sexual innuendo during the movie's first 20 minutes. Characters kiss, and one man plans to propose to his girlfriend. 
  • language false4 Language: "F--k" and "s--t" are used frequently throughout. Other language includes "p---y," "ass," "hell," "Jesus" (as an exclamation), etc.
  • consumerism false0 Consumerism: Not an issue
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false2 Drinking, drugs and smoking: Characters are shown drinking (beer, vodka) during a night on the town. Some of the characters are shown with hangovers the next morning.
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Dave White

0.5

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Chernobyl Diaries Movie Reviews + Ratings

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