Shining Girls, a psychological thriller coming to AppleTV+ that is based on the novel by the same name, is a curious television series. After watching the entire eight episode first season provided for critics, I know I enjoyed what I saw, but I also have far more questions than answers – and I’m at a bit of a loss as to how I should review the series while keeping as much of the narrative under wraps as possible, while still making you all want to give it a look. It’s a tricky proposition, as much of the series’ story is built slowly on key twists and turns (although the major pieces are revealed pretty quickly – there are many key elements that are provided for us only as characters realize them). But I’m going to give it my best shot.
Over the course of several decades, there are a string of women murdered in the same manner with the same identifying choices made by the killer (or killers) linking them together. However, one of the victims, Kirby (played by a great Elisabeth Moss, once again playing a capable if tortured woman and doing it with aplomb), managed to survive her attack. Unsurprisingly, since little appears to connect the women and the murders were so largely spread out in time, no one has linked the attacks together – that is, until Dan (Wagner Moura, playing a pretty textbook tortured writer, but who does a great job with the little characterization he is given), a journalist at the Chicago Sun-Times teams up with Kirby and starts to piece the puzzle together. The series lets us know very early on who was behind Kirby’s attack – but we learn precious little about him as a character until very late in the season. While I won’t reveal this piece of the plot or ID the character or actor, boy is he unsettling in just the right way.
If the story were a straight up “how to catch a serial killer” thriller with this cast (Amy Brenneman plays Kirby’s mother and Phillipa Soo shows up as a potential future victim), I suspect it would be strong enough to recommend. However, this is a thriller with a supernatural twist – actually more than one – presenting a strange mind fuck of a show that pulls you in when you least expect it and then turns the tables on you (and the characters) completely. And that’s where things have the potential to get very messy. Throughout the season, it became harder and harder to keep the narrative twists in check and know just who is who at any given moment (again, vague I know, but there’s a lot that is best experienced for yourself), which isn’t as much of a liability as it seems.
Like the audience, Kirby is also being tossed around in her own understanding of reality (this would be an element of the plot that never really gets a clear shake – we know the basics of why it’s happening to her, but there are a number of questions left to linger as the series closes the season), which helps us to orientate ourselves alongside her. But it’s a lot to ask of an audience – keep the main plot straight, find the clues as to why Kirby (and others) are locked in this reality swapping situation, and also continue investing in the supporting cast when they change in large and small ways as reality warps around them. If you have the time and energy to keep a running list of just what’s going on from moment to moment, you’ll likely understand this on a deeper level than I – but if you can’t dive into the minutia, there’s still enough to get out of things that should allow you to enjoy the story, and especially to allow you to fall into Moss’s incredible performance. There’s never any hand holding on the part of the writers (which is a bit refreshing), but the basic answers are all there by the end (even if it’s not the most satisfying of conclusions).
Outside of the narrative arc, I’m happy to say that the series is one of the more gorgeous ones I’ve seen in a while (despite the dark subject matter), with stellar director Michelle MacLaren helming the initial installments and highlighting the immense beauty that is summertime in Chicago (seriously – some of the shots that take place at The Adler Planetarium, a site used far too rarely in Chicago-set films and TV shows, absolutely show just how amazing Chicago can look at night). This is a series where the setting matters deeply to the narrative – characters ride the El train, venture into neighborhoods in the summer heat, stroll through the Loop with its massive buildings making them appear small and insignificant. With the killer slinking through the shadows of alleys and then strolling around in plain view across the Chicago River, you feel the sense of being a mouse in a game with a highly skilled cat.
Moss, who is also an executive producer and directs later episodes, has the hardest job in the series, but with years of experience playing a survivor on The Handmaid’s Tale, you can see immediately she’s up for the challenge. We get to see Kirby slowly come into her own throughout the early episodes, coming to terms with her attack and her role not as a victim but as a survivor, and then really turn things up as the series approaches its close. And, lest you were worried, this isn’t a series that relishes the violence against women that drives the narrative. Instead, it’s about punishing those who would seek to inflict such violence – and does so by having Kirby be one of the key factors in attempting to stop a killer in his tracks.
Is it a wholly satisfying eight episodes? Not completely – things start to drag a bit in the middle and the end feels a tad rushed once we get to it. And outside of Kirby and the killer, the rest of the characters are left fairly underdeveloped – which is a shame with this great supporting cast (including a number of local Chicago actors I was thrilled to see on the screen). But I was entertained and kept coming back for more. The season finale is listed as a season, not series, finale, so I’m not sure if they plan to release a second season (they presumably could, although the season fully wraps up its arc and it wouldn’t really be necessary). If you can stomach a thriller with some supernatural twists and turns, give Shining Girls a look.
Shining Girls premieres on AppleTV+ on Friday, April 29. All eight episodes were provided for review.
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