While Elisabeth Moss is best known to TV viewers as the ever-traumatized lead character in Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale, she’s got a brand new show coming soon that will play into her strengths portraying motivated survivors. Apple TV+’s Shining Girls not only spotlights Moss as its star, but also as an executive producer, and the trippy-looking streaming thriller dropped its chaotic first trailer (seen above) so that fans can start digging for clues.
Based on the best-selling novel of the same name from author Lauren Beukes, Shining Girls centers on Elisabeth Moss’ Kirby, a Chicago newspaper archivist who shelved her journalism dreams after suffering a debilitating assault. As it goes in cases like this, Kirby catches wind that other women have faced the same attacks that she did, putting her in close contact with a questionable reporter named Dan, as portrayed by Narcos vet Wagner Moura. As seen in the trailer, identifying the killer is anything but easy, even when the only options seem obvious: a leering, scar-faced Jamie Bell is always going to be the villain.
Real heroes don't sit like that, or smile like that, or wear their collar like that. Nothing biased here.
But then things may not be exactly what they appear, as Kirby’s sense of reality gets thrown for a loop the deeper into the case she and Dan get, and it doesn’t seem like Dan is the most well-rounded and trustworthy guy himself. Kirby’s memories may be mixing and mashing things from her past with others’, as indicated by her and other characters’ changing hairstyles and timelines throughout the trailer. But are we dealing with a Russian Doll reliving-the-same-trauma situation, or are there more complications involved here? My vote is on "more complications."
Shining Girls was adapted for TV by Silka Luisa, whose main work prior to the Apple TV+ series came on the then-CBS All Access original drama Strange Angel. Beyond Moss, the show features a few other noteworthy names behind the scenes. Leonardo DiCaprio’s production company Appian Way is behind the new project, which boasts a pair of non-teamed directors in Michelle MacLaren, who’s directed stellar episodes of everything from Breaking Bad to Better Call Saul to Game of Thrones to Westworld, and Daina Reed, who earned an Emmy nomination for one of several Handmaid’s Tale eps she helmed. Reed is also working with Moss on the upcoming thriller Run Rabbit Run opposite Succession’s Sarah Snook.
Apple TV+ is coming off of a huge night of Oscar wins, with CODA being the first ever streaming original film to win Best Picture, and Shining Girls is the latest in the streaming service's line of star-studded and thought-provoking exclusives. While Ted Lasso is usually the show that people namecheck first, other recent series such as Ben Stiller's fascinating and mysterious Severence, the hilarious murder-mystery The Afterparty and the upcoming female-fronted anthology Roar keeping Apple TV+ distinct from the competition, even when the competition also boasts shows starring Elisabeth Moss.
For those with Apple TV+ subscriptions, the new drama Shining Girls will make its streaming debut on Friday, April 29, with the first three episodes available to watch right away, with the rest of the episodes releasing once a week. Check out everything else Elisabeth Moss has on the way, as well as all the other big 2022 TV premieres that will debut before and after Shining Girls arrives.
