Elisabeth Moss slips into the skin of another intense character in ‘Shining Girls’

Elisabeth Moss as Kirby Mazrachi in “Shining Girls”.

Elisabeth Moss as Kirby Mazrachi in “Shining Girls”.

Published May 10, 2022

Share

There are two reasons to watch “Shining Girls”: it is based on the novel by South African author Lauren Beukes and it boasts incredibly intense and nuanced performances by Elisabeth Moss, Wagner Moura and Jamie Bell.

This murky thriller looks into an investigation of a serial killer by hard-nosed journalist Dan (Moura).

Aside from the fact that his gut instinct is telling him there’s a huge story here, Dan also needs to redeem himself with his editor after falling off the wagon on the job.

He believes that there is more to the death of a young woman after her body is discovered in the city’s sewer.

And he knows he’s on the right track when the Sun Times’ archivist Kirby Mazrachi (Moss) admits to being a survivor of the serial killer, who viciously attacked her and left her for dead.

She agrees to be a source, but only if he keeps her name out of the story and he allows her to help with the investigation.

Although her identity has been changed, her trauma is relived daily. Aside from that, Kirby experiences horrible bouts of shifting realities. She also involuntarily darts between time periods.

Meanwhile, Harper Curtis (Bell) makes his menacing presence felt as he stalks Jin-Sook (Phillipa Soo), an astronomer.

Harper also ingratiates himself into Dan’s investigation by befriending him as a concerned citizen.

“Shining Girls” is streaming on Apple TV+.