Critic Reviews

The payoffs in “Shining Girls” are well worth the time investment. ... The acting is sublime. The writing is outstanding.

Things could go off the rails in the closing chapters, tainting the attentive construction, arresting performances, and spine-tingling teases. But the creative trio of Moss, MacLaren, and Luisa has made me a believer. These first four episodes aren’t just set-up. They’re exhilarating.

Kirby's nobody's girlfriend and even if she is constantly on the verge, she perseveres. Good stuff.

Instead of a single performance, Moss gives a cluster of them, finely calibrating Kirby’s posture, confidence, and anxiety level to reflect each new reality. ... Because the show sticks so close to her fractured consciousness, we come to appreciate how hard it is for her to survive, let alone conduct such an unusual investigation.

This is another terrific show. Just don’t expect to come out of it being able to explain a lot of what happens. Kirby’s story is all that matters, and that plays out as well as you would expect when you pair a great actor with a great director and potent material.

It’s gloomy and uncompromising, but Shining Girls offers an intriguing mystery which takes some unexpected routes, featuring an Elisabeth Moss performance as strong as any on her remarkable résumé.

Even as the female victim count adds up, Shining Girls keeps its integrity and never backs away from this underlying truth.

Shining Girls takes its time to reveal the entire picture of what its story is about. But with a fine lead performance by Moss and expert direction, it’s still got enough tension to make us OK with getting only little bits of info.

Not everything works and there are definitely some questions about the ending and the mechanism behind the whole conceit. Nevertheless, Moss is a force in her capacity as lead and director that helps sell the “things weren’t how they should be” narrative.

“Shining Girls” is undeniably kooky, but the characters, situations and the city itself are so vividly brought to life that you’ll be dying to figure out what happens next. Just watch it with the lights on.