‘Shining Girls’ Review: Elisabeth Moss Faces Trauma & A Time-Traveling Serial Killer In Ambitious Apple TV+ Series

Serial killers are a popular source of inspiration whether true-crime adaptations, network procedurals (including a touted “Criminal Minds” revival), or fictional stories. Audiences have been lapping up gruesome material long before television entered the fray and subverting or introducing a different perspective in this genre is a tall task.  

Apple TV+’s new limited series “Shining Girls” valiantly takes on this challenge with a story that offers a reality-shifting approach to trauma in the aftermath of a horrifying attack. The eight-part thriller with a dash of quantum physics thrown in for good measure is based on Laura Beukes’ 2013 best-seller. Creator Silka Luisa has utilized the basic structure of the twisty novel that follows Kirby Mazrachi (Elisabeth Moss) as she tries to piece her life back together after a violent assault by an unknown assailant. The knowledge he is still out there haunts the newspaper archivist. It all sounds rather run-of-the-mill so far, and the first episode plays into crime drama tropes before pulling the rug out beneath the viewer and Kirby. 

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Fans of the book will notice flashes of similarities in the setup but Luisa has made some big alterations to the way Kirby perceives the world to add a unique structure. In fact, what makes “Shining Girls” stand out as a crime fiction character study is not only its focus on the victim, but the way memory and time add to the perpetual nightmare Kirby has found herself stuck in. 

Ace TV veteran Michelle MacLaren (“Game of Thrones” “Breaking Bad”) directs the first two episodes and sets a tone that doesn’t unnecessarily linger on brutality against women. The remaining six episodes are split between Daina Reid (“The Handmaid’s Tale” and “The Outsider”) and Moss who is pulling double duty. The actress proved a commanding presence behind the camera in “The Handmaid’s Tales” fourth season and does so again here with the fifth and penultimate episode. Menace isn’t reduced to the bloody acts and each director makes the act of being watched into another weapon in the killer’s arsenal. 

Mental scars linger too and the response to these violent crimes is another act of brutality. What someone can and cannot remember is often scrutinized by the police and the press, and this series tackles the failings of both the law and journalism when investigating or reporting. Snap judgments about the victims are also a factor and “Shining Girls” takes both institutions to task for their sloppiness. 

Kirby works at the Chicago Sun-Times’ archive department so she has access to decades of crime news stories in the city and the unpublished crime scene photographs snapped at the time. Falling down this rabbit hole might not be the healthiest way to confront trauma but compartmentalizing what happened is not an option either. 

Predominantly taking place in 1992 immediately takes away the option of internet search engines and instead, Kirby must rely on microfiche readers, notes, long-forgotten archives, and a warehouse full of cold-case evidence (including the bloody garments that once belonged to her). Diving into the horrors of Chicago’s unsolved murders reveals similarities between Kirby’s case and countless other women who did not survive. It is in this discovery that criticisms leveled at those agencies tasked with protecting are at their most potent, and the lack of attention paid to similarities is disturbing. In some cases, another suspect took the fall for reasons relating to bias, prejudice or simply they made the most sense on the surface. 

All of this is rather vague in terms of plot specifics regarding the timeline — because to say too much might impact your experience — but one area that can be discussed in detail is Moss’ stirring performance at the heart of this grisly tale. There is a reason Moss is a repeat Emmy contender and she could add another nomination amid the crowded limited actress field. Fear is a constant and Moss deftly portrays Kirby’s attempts to cling to anything familiar. “Things change for me just like that,” she explains even if no one understands what she means. At one moment she has a dog, the next a cat. Her haircut and its color change in the blink of an eye and “nobody remembers anything different.” Not only is she constantly looking over her shoulder waiting for the invisible predator to strike again, but she is without an anchor. That is until she meets crime reporter Dan Velazquez (Wagner Moura) who is looking into a murder that matches the description of her wound pattern.

In Dan, Kirby finds a confidant and someone willing to help her look for links between crimes. A reporter who relies on booze to get through the day is hardly new and while Moura wears every inch of the perpetual hangover well it is somewhat frustrating to see this archetype get wheeled out again. Dan has a reputation for falling apart when he dives into the darkness and this framing is glaringly stale in comparison to the other ways the series subverts the genre. The other somewhat eye-roll-worthy plotline involves a lot of excess masculinity and a jealous streak that is frustrating rather than compelling to watch. Chris Chalk as the Sun-Times photographer Marcus gets stuck in this particular narrative but has some moments to shine (no pun intended) outside of scenes that turn him into an obstacle.

Kirby is often grasping in the dark alone, but Moss’ supporting cast are terrific scene partners, which includes Phillipa Soo as a planetarium researcher who is being watched by the terrifying figure, Amy Brenneman playing Kirby’s mother who swings wildly between reliability and absence, and one of Moss’ co-stars from “The Handmaid’s Tale” who shall remain nameless but it is very satisfactory when they share a scene. Brenneman is somewhat underused, and yet she packs a punch whenever she appears on the screen. In addition, Christopher Denham’s subtle performance as the disoriented Leo adds layers to the story and the connection to the killer. 

One person yet to be mentioned is the man enacting the horrific crimes and the omnipresent figure Kirby cannot escape. “He’s everybody, he’s nobody, he’s all the time,” is her description of the slippery Harper (Jamie Bell). This man who somehow knows everything and moves in silence is a terrifying prospect and Bell more than captures this disquieting element. 

Polaroid photos contribute to several unnerving sequences and heighten the terror felt by his victims — and in turn, us. Successfully drawing out dread from Harper’s presence alone and it is notable that the camera pulls away when he enacts violence on women. A montage of crime scene photos juxtaposed next to the living images is an indication of how gruesome it gets. This juxtaposition between living and dead speaks to how true crime tends to focus on the latter, and there is a theme of restoring life to the people who can no longer speak. Fight scenes aren’t eliminated, but at no point does it come across as gratuitous. Having three female directors shooting these sequences no doubt informs this striking choice. 

Not everything works and there are definitely some questions about the ending and the mechanism behind the whole conceit. Nevertheless, Moss is a force in her capacity as lead and director that helps sell the “things weren’t how they should be” narrative. No doubt she is one of the best actresses of her generation and “Shining Girls” is an ambitious and often dizzying portrayal of a serial killer story and the ripple effect on the survivors. [B]

“Shining Girls” premieres April 29 on Apple TV+.