{"id":845201,"date":"2026-08-06T04:36:13","date_gmt":"2026-08-06T04:36:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/845201\/"},"modified":"2026-08-06T04:36:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T04:36:13","slug":"ryan-murphys-new-thriller-the-shards-takes-place-in-1981-but-its-about-the-present","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/845201\/","title":{"rendered":"Ryan Murphy\u2019s new thriller The Shards takes place in 1981 \u2013 but it\u2019s about the present"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Shards follows a fictionalised version of novelist Bret Easton Ellis during his final year of high school. Based on Ellis\u2019 2023 book of the same name<\/a>, it\u2019s September 1981, and the elite world of a wealthy prep school unravels as a serial killer known as \u201cthe Trawler\u201d starts targeting students.<\/p>\n

Between trying to maintain his active social life and writing his debut novel, Bret (Igby Rigney) becomes convinced the new boy at school, Robert (Homer Gere), is linked to the various disappearances and ritualistic killings happening around a glamorous Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

With sweeping shots of Mulholland Drive set to the tune of a vibrant early-\u201880s soundtrack, The Shards\u2019 vivid atmosphere is also intensely paranoid.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Reliving the \u2018glory days\u2019<\/p>\n

With direction from Ryan Murphy, known for American Horror Story (2011\u2013), and Ellis, best known as the author of American Psycho (1991), we might expect The Shards to be a gory slasher. However, the show is much more psychological, reflecting Bret\u2019s angst through a fragmented coming-of-age narrative.<\/p>\n

The Shards presents contrasting perspectives on the 1980s. <\/p>\n

Bret, his girlfriend Debbie (Hayes Warner) and his best friends Thom (Graham Campbell) and Susan (Kaia Gerber) are the most popular kids at school. But Bret faces the threat of his world being dismantled by cult members, serial killers and Robert.<\/p>\n

The small screen is seeing an \u201880s cultural revival. Stranger Things (2016\u201325) captured the era through its synthwave score and fashion, technology and pop culture. Glow (2017\u201319) revisited an era of big hair and eccentric costumes in its depiction of women\u2019s professional wrestling. The San Junipero episode of Black Mirror (2016) presented a utopian simulation of the ’80s to which the disaffected can escape.<\/p>\n

The appeal of nostalgic shows lies in their creation of an \u201cemotional portal<\/a>\u201d, transporting audiences to an idealised version of the past. <\/p>\n

It is no surprise they\u2019ve emerged at a time when we feel increasingly fearful of an uncertain present<\/a>. Nostalgia allows us to seek refuge in the perceived stability of the past.<\/p>\n

An older version of Bret narrates, recalling sitting in an empty movie theatre without craving a distraction. Later, he mournfully notes that the five or six bookstores he used to visit after school have since closed. This older Bret describes 1981 as one of the last times there was \u201cno fear\u201d \u2013 before the young Bret becomes convinced \u201ckillers and boogeymen\u201d are coming for him.<\/p>\n

Contemporary anxieties<\/p>\n

The show reveals the limitations and exclusionary reality of Bret\u2019s high-status world, when established wealth and dominance becomes threatened by an \u201coutsider\u201d.<\/p>\n

Bret\u2019s suspicions of Robert reflect anxieties that have shaped politics over the past decade. <\/p>\n

The \u201cGreat Replacement<\/a>\u201d theory, popularised in the United States, claims immigrants are \u201cinvading\u201d. According to Vice President JD Vance<\/a>, this \u201cinvasion\u201d is supported by Democrat politicians who want to increase their voter share.<\/p>\n

\"Production<\/a><\/p>\n

The Shards takes place in 1981 \u2013 but it\u2019s undoubtedly about the present.
\n Disney+<\/p>\n

While the show does not play on race, Robert\u2019s sudden transfer from Chicago and history of mental health challenges fuel Bret\u2019s paranoia that Robert is here to invade his group of friends. <\/p>\n

When Robert enters the inner circle by winning over Thom, Susan and Debbie with his charm, Bret labels Robert a \u201cvirus\u201d and an \u201cinsidious invading agent\u201d aimed at destroying the \u201cstructure of my friends, my school [\u2026] and me\u201d.<\/p>\n

Bret\u2019s dehumanising language mirrors President Donald Trump using words such as \u201cvermin\u201d and \u201cinfestation\u201d to stoke fears<\/a> immigrants will \u201ctake over\u201d and permanently marginalise US natural-born citizens.<\/p>\n

We also see a broader political trend<\/a> using nostalgia to promote the return to a perfect, \u201corderly\u201d past, as in Trump\u2019s campaign slogan \u201cMake America Great Again\u201d \u2013 itself a phase adopted<\/a> from Ronald Regan\u2019s 1980 presidential run.<\/p>\n

The \u201cagain\u201d in this slogan suggests the nation has declined from a superior former state \u2013 interpreted by many<\/a> as a white-majority America. <\/p>\n

Whose story are we watching?<\/p>\n

The Shards emphasises the collapse of an idealised past just as much as it establishes one. <\/p>\n

Ellis and Murphy view Bret and the 1980s critically. While the show\u2019s glamorous atmosphere presents an alluring fantasy, it also highlights the era\u2019s elite symbols \u2013 sports cars, designer clothes, cocaine \u2013 as part of a culture defined by egregious excess and exclusivity.<\/p>\n

Stories about the past often reflect present anxieties. While these stories can evoke nostalgia, they can also justify the exclusion of those who don\u2019t fit into a romanticised view of history. <\/p>\n

\"Production<\/a><\/p>\n

The Shards emphasises the collapse of an idealised past just as much as it establishes one.
\n Disney+<\/p>\n

Critical engagement is essential to ensure we don\u2019t trade our better judgement for an infatuation with a past that never really existed.<\/p>\n

The show presents the horrors of 1981 through Bret\u2019s biased recollection. We should remain sceptical of both Robert\u2019s presumed guilt and Bret\u2019s apparent innocence.<\/p>\n

Bret\u2019s focus on the \u201coutsider\u201d as the cause of his ideal world\u2019s erosion distorts the possibility that he is externalising the cruelty already deeply ingrained within his elite circle.<\/p>\n

With no strong leads that tie Robert to any crime, the show prompts us to question: is it possible Bret is responsible for these deaths and disappearances, or one of his friends? Could he even be imagining it?<\/p>\n

As you watch, consider whose perspective the series privileges, and whose it marginalises.<\/p>\n

As far as whether this approach helps reveal the true identity of \u201cthe Trawler\u201d, we\u2019ll just have to wait and see. <\/p>\n

The Shards is now streaming on Disney+<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Shards follows a fictionalised version of novelist Bret Easton Ellis during his final year of high school.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":845202,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[64,63,134,344],"class_list":["post-845201","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-entertainment","tag-movies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/845201","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=845201"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/845201\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/845202"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=845201"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=845201"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=845201"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}