My Favorite Elisabeth Moss Show Is Not The Handmaid's Tale, but This Thriller Praised by Stephen King
The project remains a unique work in its own right, while brilliantly blending Fincher's style with the topics of King's works – and the author himself was thrilled with Moss' performance and the gripping plot. Here's why it's as good (or even better than) The Handmaid's Tale.
The sixth and final season of The Handmaid's Tale starring Elisabeth Moss is in full swing on Hulu. And although the series about a dystopian future has become the most successful and popular of the actress' career, my heart belongs to her other project – Shining Girls.
Since 2015, Moss has taken on producing roles, and in 2020 she founded the film company Love & Squalor Pictures to create TV projects. And Shining Girls was one of the first.
What Is Shining Girls About?
Chicago, 90s. Kirby, an employee of the Chicago Sun-Times newspaper, hides her real name and suffers from severe post-traumatic stress caused by the attack of a maniac who has been operating in the city for several years.
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The killer's victims are young women, seemingly unrelated. After the discovery of another body, Kirby and her colleague, journalist Dan, decide to take the investigation into their own hands.
Stephen King Called Shining Girls ‘Scary And Involving’
The topics of mental problems and depression in the setting of mysticism inevitably refer to the works of Stephen King. And in The Shining, this concept works brilliantly, grabbing you and not letting go until the very last minutes.
In a now-deleted X post, the author himself praised the series and compared it to a novel:
“This is exactly what streaming was made for. Scary and involving, well acted and sumptuously made, it's a novel for the eyes and the mind.”
Shining Girls Is a Perfect Mix of Gritty Thriller and Psychological Drama
Shining Girls works on two levels at once: First, it is an exemplary noir thriller that will appeal to all fans of David Fincher's Zodiac or Mindhunter.
Second, it is a sharp psychological drama that realistically illustrates the inner world of a person who has experienced a brutal act of violence.
While the events of the series have a fantastical basis, they also carry a clear psychological subtext: violence leaves a huge, scorched wound in the soul that neither time nor one's favorite work can heal.
What Did Critics and Viewers Think of Shining Girls?
Shining Girls remains one of the most critically acclaimed projects of Elisabeth Moss' career.
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On Rotten Tomatoes, the series has an 84% approval score from critics and an 85% score from viewers.
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On IMDb, Shining Girls has a score of 7.4/10.
Where to Watch Shining Girls?
Shining Girls is available to stream on Apple TV+.
