This series is not for the squeamish, that quickly becomes clear. It starts with a corpse found in the sewage system, whose abdominal wall has been slit open several times. It turns out the wounds are similar to those sustained by once-aspiring journalist Kirby Mazrachi (Elisabeth Moss) from an attack years ago. Meanwhile, Kirby works under a new name in the newspaper’s archives. Together with reporter Dan Velazquez (Wagner Moura), she sets out to find the suspected serial killer who once targeted her.
shining girls takes place in a rain-grey early 90’s Chicago. The computers are boxy, the shirts baggy. What initially sounds like the processing of a bloodthirsty cold case quickly develops into a psychological thriller inception-Echoes: Since the attack, Kirby has struggled with memory lapses and perceived hallucinations, sometimes not even remembering her husband. The killer turns out to be a time traveler who has been stalking his victims for years. Kirby had first contact with him as a child. “He’s nobody, he’s everyone, he’s everyone at the same time,” she says at one point about her attacker. The hunt for a murderer becomes a hunt on different time levels.
Almost scarier than all the bloody corpses are the small, eerie details
In the retelling, all this may sound a bit abstruse, when watching it works. This is also due to the excellent cast. Elisabeth Moss plays her Kirby wonderfully dry and mellow. Jamie Bell, the former child star dating Billie Elliott, turns the murderer into an unpredictable criminal who switches back and forth between charisma and freezer coldness in seconds. The plot of shining girls is based on the bestseller of the same name by South African author Lauren Beukes. Leonardo DiCaprio’s company Appian Way co-produced the series. A top-class project in many respects.
The whole thing is carefully staged. Almost scarier than all the bloody corpses are the small, eerie details: when a stranger suddenly sits in Kirby’s apartment because she supposedly got the wrong door. When reporter Dan suddenly discovers an unknown cassette in his car radio. Or the books on his shelf are upside down.
This series is only suitable to a limited extent for leisurely going away. This is not only due to the many violent scenes, but also to the complex time levels. Why has Kirby got longer hair all of a sudden? Why does she sometimes have a dog as a pet, sometimes a cat? And what about the strange old house where the killer apparently lives? Even if you occasionally feel the impulse to rewind and the resolution at the end is perhaps a bit too creative: This series is always exciting and worth it for the really great actors and actresses.
shining girlsstarts April 29, eight episodes, every Friday on Apple+.
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