# To the Lake (2019)

> A Russian outbreak drama in which a contagion turns Moscow into a city of the dead and survivors fight for food and survival.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/80393

## Facts

- Seasons: 2
- Episodes: 16
- Episode runtime: 48 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: science fiction, drama
- Created by: Yana Vagner
- Network: Premier
- Cast: Kirill Käro, Viktoriya Isakova, Maryana Spivak, Natalya Zemtsova, Aleksandr Robak, Eldar Kalimulin, Victoria Agalakova, Saveliy Kudryashov
- TMDB rating: 7.2/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9151230/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: moderate
- Tone: grim, bleak, tense, claustrophobic, gritty

## What critics say

Reviewers find the Russian take on the outbreak apocalypse novel and well acted, with credible character behavior and a rationally evolving story, though some find the characterisation of the propaganda-style figures weak.

## Synopsis

To the Lake (2019-2022) is a Russian post-apocalyptic survival series created by Yana Vagner for Premier. Kirill Käro plays Sergey, a man navigating a Moscow turned into a city of the dead by an unknown new virus, while Viktoriya Isakova plays Anna and Maryana Spivak plays Irina, two women whose choices shape the group's chances. The engine of the series is simple and brutal: the uninfected must find food, shelter and safe routes out of the city while money has lost all value and every day makes survival harder. Each episode is built from scavenging runs, uneasy alliances, and tense confrontations with neighbors who may already be turning. Across two seasons totaling sixteen episodes, the story stays serialized and follows the same characters through escalating scarcity. The setting is contemporary Moscow, rendered as an emptied city where ordinary life has collapsed. Tone is grim, claustrophobic and intense, with a sober emotional register that leans on human behavior rather than spectacle. Fans of The Walking Dead, Contagion and Chernobyl will find resonance in its bleak atmosphere, moral strain and gritty realism.

## Shows like To the Lake

- [Better Than Us (2018)](https://ember.film/tv/71865)
- [Hot Skull (2022)](https://ember.film/tv/133937)
- [Patient Zero (2022)](https://ember.film/tv/117189)
- [Fisher (2023)](https://ember.film/tv/139669)
- [Brigada (2002)](https://ember.film/tv/28467)
- [Survivors (2008)](https://ember.film/tv/6965)
- [The Highway (2024)](https://ember.film/tv/166163)
- [Survivors (2021)](https://ember.film/tv/110482)
- [The Island (2020)](https://ember.film/tv/79424)
- [Psycho (2020)](https://ember.film/tv/84367)

---

Site overview: https://ember.film/llms.txt