The Shards

The adaptation of best-selling author Bret Easton Ellis’s auto-fictional novel The Shards was originally in development at HBO, with European filmmakers Luca Guadagnino and Kristoffer Borgli in talks to direct. However, last year’s announcement that the project had moved to FX and into the hands of television mogul Ryan Murphy (American Horror Story) surprised no one, as Murphy’s camp-inflected style and penchant for provocative storytelling have long seemed indebted to Bret Easton Ellis’s landmark creation, American Psycho.

In The Shards, the writer revisits his final year at an elite Los Angeles prep school in 1981 (the formative milieu, which he also credited as the influence for his debut novel Less Than Zero). Alongside typical dramas of adolescence – trying to win dance competitions, rebelling against their privileged upbringing and coming to terms with their sexuality – these teenagers must also fend off Satanic cults and a sadistic serial killer. Bret (played by Midnight Mass’s Igby Rigney) is the only one in his clique to recognise a possible link between the crimes and the enigmatic new student, Robert Mallory (Homer Gere).

While the obsessive name-dropping of fashion brands and pop culture may initially feel (self-)derivative of the above-mentioned American Psycho, Murphy (who even directed two episodes of The Shards) is truly in his element portraying teenagers surrounded by intensity and hormonal volatility, yet remain strikingly detached. There is an inherent appeal to a coming-of-age story set against the poppy, stylised backdrop of the 80s.

The ensemble feels almost lab-grown for the showrunner’s aesthetic, reinforcing a glamorous and distant world populated by mostly unreadable, glossy figures. But it wouldn’t be a Ryan Murphy show without a meta element to its casting: three decades after Hollywood power couple Cindy Crawford and Richard Gere divorced, their children now share the screen. In what feels almost like a sociological experiment to see whether chemistry can be inherited, her daughter (Kaia Gerber) and his son (Homer Gere) are paired as love interests.

The problem is that the conditions are hardly ideal for testing the theory: both of their characters are painfully underdeveloped. Gerber’s character is defined solely by how others view her: an object of male desire and female envy. Even despite the fact that Robert Mallory is meant to be shrouded in mystery, the implication that he is well-endowed hardly counts as characterisation. Without any defining qualities beyond his mystique, he feels more like an idea than a person.

By design, these characters remain elusive; with the exception of Bret, whose narration almost over-explains his motivations, instead of letting the unfolding images speak for themselves. While this succeeds in creating a certain abstract fascination, it leaves the audience with little emotional connection to the characters – something a series ultimately relies on to keep viewers coming back. Performance-wise, Wes Bentley and Evan Rachel Wood are the standouts, bringing a calculated blend of camp and sincerity to their roles as Bret’s girlfriend’s parents.

The Shards will likely draw viewers in through curiosity, but if they are not sold on the thriller premise or its particular retro style, there is little else the show can offer to keep them coming back. It could be a gateway into the serial killer genre for younger audiences, as its shock value is deliberately measured rather than excessive, but for seasoned crime viewers some of its elements may be a little too contrived. Perhaps not entirely satisfying for fans of Ellis’ work, The Shards is, however, a step up from Murphy, whose provocations have fewer real-world casualties when confined to the realm of fiction.

Selina Sondermann

The Shards is released on Disney+ on 6^th August 2026.

Watch the trailer for The Shards here: