Shining Girls
Apple TV+, now streaming ★★★★★
Elisabeth Moss is simply the best. She not only turned Mad Men’s Peggy Olson into a feminist icon and stole the whole series from leading man Jon Hamm, but she went on to star as brilliantly uncompromising Detective Robin Griffin in two extraordinary series of Jane Campion’s Top Of The Lake, and then took on the massively challenging role of June in The Handmaid’s Tale, currently filming its fifth season. She was also robbed of an Oscar nod for her stunning work as the lead in the best film of 2020, The Invisible Man.
Most of these roles are women who have endured all kinds of misery, abuse and suffering, but Moss’ soulful humanity has shone through in every single one of them. The trend continues with this latest TV drama from Apple TV+, in which she plays Kirby Mazrachi, a Chicago-based newspaper researcher who is recovering from a horrific knife attack that left her deeply scarred both physically and mentally. When a similar incident comes to light in which a local woman is murdered, Kirby takes it upon herself to investigate, with help from a seasoned reporter at the paper where she works. To say much more about this story – adapted from a novel by Lauren Beukes – would be in danger of
‘It will leave you gasping’
ruining what is that rare thing: a truly original serial-killer thriller, with audacious twists that will leave you gasping in astonishment.
The series is beautifully made, and its creepy, dank atmosphere heavily influenced by the classic film Se7en, yet still very much its own thing. And as for Moss, playing a woman confused, bewildered, scared and in danger of losing her grip on reality, it might just be her greatest role yet. Yes, the best just got even better.