FX has released “The Shards,” an adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’s autofictional narrative that originated as a serialized podcast between 2020 and 2021 before becoming a novel in 2023. The series follows a character named Bret Ellis attending an exclusive Los Angeles prep school during the early 1980s, where his world destabilizes following the arrival of transfer student Robert Mallory and the emergence of a serial killer known as The Trawler.
Producer Ryan Murphy took over the project in February 2025, replacing director Luca Guadagnino. According to executive producer Brad Simpson, Murphy and Ellis share thematic interests in hidden identities and coming of age during the AIDS era. Simpson noted that the narrative functions as a metaphor for the AIDS crisis of the 1980s, presenting a story about young people facing an unknown threat.
The cast comprises both established actors and emerging talent, including Kaia Gerber from the American Horror Story franchise as Susan Reynolds, Igby Rigney as the Ellis character, and Homer Gere as Robert Mallory. Jordan Roth, a seven-time Tony Award winner, plays Steven Reinhardt. Simpson emphasized that casting prioritized aspirational appeal to younger audiences seeking fresh faces. The ensemble cast reportedly had not worked together previously, though Gere and Gerber acknowledged their parents’ prominence as a 1990s celebrity couple before beginning production.
Production involved extensive use of practical effects to depict drug use, with actors consuming various substances standing in for alcohol and experimenting with milk and coconut powders to simulate cocaine. Hayes Warner, who plays character Debbie Schaffer, spent considerable time on scenes involving the latter substance. Despite being marketed as an erotic thriller, the series employs minimal explicit sexual content, focusing instead on tension and suspense. Intimate scenes included coordination by an intimacy specialist and involved preparation techniques such as the use of breath fresheners.
The premiere is scheduled for 5 August on FX/Hulu in the United States and 6 August in the United Kingdom and Australia on Disney+.
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