FX’s Adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’ ‘The Shards’ Can’t Be Saved by a Strong Lead Performance: TV Review
In some ways, an adaptation of the Bret Easton Ellis novel “The Shards” has had some of the heavy lifting done for it. Ellis’ cooly detached prose style embodies the shameless materialism of its Reagan era setting with an obsessive catalog of proper nouns: what kind of cars its characters drive; the brand of clothes […]
In 1981, Bret Easton Ellis (Igby Rigney) finds his carefree lifestyle disrupted by the arrival of Robert Mallory (Homer Gere) at Buckley prep school. Both are seemingly charming and handsome, but Bret cannot shake the feeling that Robert is not as he seems. Ryan Murphy, known for his provocative storytelling, adapted Ellis's novel "The Shards" into a TV series.
However, the adaptation fails to capture the essence of the book, diluting its paranoia and tedium. The show's portrayal of luxury, drugs, and sex is cliché and lacks the unsettling atmosphere present in the source material. Despite a few standout performances by Wes Bentley, Evan Rachel Wood, and Richard Gere's son, the series struggles to maintain its focus and fails to deliver the same emotional heft as HBO's "Euphoria."
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- ‘The Shards’ Star Igby Rigney on Wooing Ryan Murphy, Never Meeting Bret Easton Ellis and Not Worrying About Sex Scenes: ‘It’s Like Doing a Dance Under a Microscope’ variety.com
- ‘The Shards’ Review: Ryan Murphy Waters Down Bret Easton Ellis to Make His Own Murderous ‘Euphoria’ thewrap.com
- ‘The Shards’ Review: Ryan Murphy’s Unboring Bret Easton Ellis Adaptation Never Comes Together indiewire.com
- Where to Watch ‘The Shards,’ Ryan Murphy’s Adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’ Bestseller hollywoodreporter.com
