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Thanks toOppenheimer’s massive box office success and awards season dominance, nuclearwaras a concept has returned to the public consciousness (evenDenis Villeneuve is exploring a filmabout it). It’s inherently a terrifying concept that one could risk destroying the world at the mere push of a button, and almost all the best films about the idea of nuclear war are the ones that urgently warn us of that fact. Yet it’s not justOppenheimerthat’s so effectively explored it; just five years ago,HBO delivered one of its best miniseriesever withChernobyl, a chilling look at a catastrophe that could’ve seen its tragedy diminished had there not been so little transparency.
But arguably,the most terrifying work about nuclear war was released forty years ago; in 1984, the BBC worked with Mick Jackson (then a documentary filmmaker) to deliver a near-masterpiece. The final result wasThreads, a shockingly realistic hypothetical look at everyone’s most dreaded worst-case scenario, in which nuclear war breaks out and decimates the British town of Sheffield.
Threads Explored a Nightmarish Hypothetical Doomsday
Threadswas conceived in the early ’80s when BBC head Alasdair Mine watched theOscar-winning documentaryfrom 1966 titledThe War Game, which depicted a theoretical nuclear war and its aftermath. Due to graphic content, the documentary had been banned from airing on the BBC for a time, and Mine wanted the channel to present a similar version of the same premise. Mick Jackson, who’d previously helmed a 1982 documentary about nuclear apocalypse, was brought on to direct, and he wanted toexplore a nightmarish scenario as realistically as possible.
To accomplish this, he consulted with various doctors, scientists, psychologists, and defense specialists to fully understand how a nuclear disaster could play out in real life. To add more authenticity, he set the story in a small North England town, Sheffield, since it seemed most likely that the Soviet Union would strike an industrial town. Additionally, he drew inspirationfrom Italian neorealismand filled his cast almost entirely with unknowns so that his characters looked and acted like ordinary people.
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Perhaps most crucially, Jackson lulls us into the story like he’s making another slice-of-life drama. As the film opens, we get to know a young couple, Ruth Beckett (Karen Meagher) and Jimmy Kemp (Reece Dinsdale), who plan to marry after Ruth unexpectedly gets pregnant. In the background, global events gradually started to escalate; first,the Soviet Unioninvaded Iran upon learning that America had a hand in the country’s recent coup. The U.S. invades southern Iran in response, leading the Warsaw Pact to mobilize in Eastern Germany, which then leads Britain to assemble to defend their global ally.
Eventually, the U.S. destroyed a Soviet base in Iran with a nuclear warhead, and the Soviets retaliated with a few atomic missiles of their own. Sheffield unfortunately happens to be one of their targets, and from the midway point onward, the film becomes a disturbing account of the events afterward, where the survivors fend for themselves. Local government breaks down, medical supplies rapidly dwindle, and the fallout radiation soon results in even more casualties over the next decade.
Threads’ Realism Makes It Terrifying
Threadsis widely known as one of the most grueling viewing experiences of all time, able to stand alongside films likeCome and SeeandShoahin the utter devastation it evokes. But what makesThreadsas terrifying as almost any horror film isn’t its disturbing imagery; it’s how realistic it is. Mick Jackson’s extensive research before filming clearly paid off because what his film accomplishes is monumental – he makes everyone’s deepest apocalyptic fears chillingly plausible.
Consider the attention to detail Jackson shows before the bombs even hit. As tensions in Iran escalate, the public order gradually breaks down; anti-war protests hit the streets, people begin panic-buying supplies, and the local government enacts emergency powers to confiscate properties for defense purposes. Because we’re placed directly in the perspective of everyday people like Ruth and Jimmy, it allows us to see firsthand the ways in which civilizations start to collapse when facing impending doom. And in a world that faceda global pandemicfour years ago, today, it feels not only prophetic but familiar.
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That’s allbeforethe nuclear bombs are actually launched. Midway through the picture, when a missile utterly decimates the town of Sheffield, things get even more grueling. Several survivors are trapped inside buildings (and others trapped underground) with no hope for rescue, as fallout in the area is too high. The remaining hospitals in the area become overwhelmed with not enough medical supplies for everyone, and the local government stockpiles food, knowing those who likely have radiation won’t live long anyway. Ash from the explosions spreads across the atmosphere, blocking out the sun.
And this is just the first month after the bombing.The film covers a full 10 years after the attacks, illustrating just how deep the devastation goes. The result is a film that’s nothing short of brutal in how matter-of-factly it tells its story. In covering the social, political, economic, environmental, and personal impact of nuclear war, it feels epic in scope and yet utterly focused. Arguably, the only other film that depicts societal breakdown this effectivelyis 2011’sContagion, which took a similarly fact-driven approach to the spread of a deadly virus around the world (and that proved chillingly prophetic).
Threads Is Terrifying but Essential
By some miracle,ThreadsmakesOppenheimerlook like a walk in the park, showcasing how much devastation can be brought about bythe nuclear age. It’s disturbing in its realism, often hard to watch at points, and in covering all the different facets of society that would be impacted by a nuclear attack, it hits like a rock. And yet it’s impossible to look away; it’s a film that’s single-minded in its ambition and achieves it with maximum efficiency.Threadsmay be one of the most brutal masterpieces ever made, but it’s essential, and even four decades later, it’s just as affecting as ever.Threadsis streaming now onTubi.
