The series from executive producer Ryan Murphy follows a group of elite prep-school students in 1980s Los Angeles as a mysterious new student arrives and a serial killer terrorizes the city
FX has released the official trailer for the upcoming drama series The Shards, from executive producer Ryan Murphy and based on the bestselling novel by Bret Easton Ellis.
“Everyone loves a good coming-of-age story,” the trailer teases, before pulling viewers into a darker, more twisted narrative set against the vivid backdrop of 1980s Los Angeles.
The Premise
The series follows a group of privileged high school seniors at an elite prep school as they navigate identity, sex, jealousy, obsession and the dangers lurking beneath the surface of American adolescence. The Shards centers on aspiring writer Bret (Igby Rigney), whose world takes a turn after the arrival of a “mysterious and magnetic new student, Robert Mallory (Homer Gere).”
Transferring in just before his senior year, Robert’s appearance coincides with the growing terror of The Trawler, a serial killer targeting teenagers across the city. Throughout the trailer, Bret is shown growing increasingly wary of Robert, though his group of friends may not be convinced of his suspicions.
“You always embellish everything,” Kaia Gerber’s character Susan says to Bret, suggesting that his concerns may be dismissed by those around him.
The Cast
In the series, Bret’s social circle consists of Susan Reynolds (Kaia Gerber), Debbie Schaffer (Hayes Warner) and Thom Wright (Graham Campbell). Wes Bentley, Evan Rachel Wood and Jordan Roth also star in the series produced by 20th Television.
The series is executive produced by Murphy, Nina Jacobson, Brad Simpson, Ellis, Eric Kovtun, Scott Robertson, Nissa Diederich, Tanase Popa, Nick Hall, Michael Uppendahl, Max Winkler, Kathleen McCaffrey and Brian Young.
The Source Material
The series is based on Ellis’ 2023 horror novel that explores the fusing of fact and fiction and how Bret’s obsession with Robert is equaled with his obsession with the Trawler, “a serial killer on the loose who seems to be drawing ever closer to Bret and his friends, taunting them—and Bret in particular—with grotesque threats and horrific, sharply local acts of violence.”
The novel asks whether Bret can trust his friends—or his own mind—to make sense of the danger they appear to be in.
