FX has released a television adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’s The Shards, a work that originated as a serialized podcast between 2020 and 2021 before being expanded into a novel in 2023. The series, developed by Ryan Murphy, follows a character named Bret Ellis during his senior year at an exclusive Los Angeles preparatory school in 1981. The narrative centers on the arrival of a transfer student named Robert Mallory and the emergence of a serial killer known as The Trawler, which threatens the protagonist’s social circle.
Murphy assumed creative control of the project in February 2025 after the original planned director, Luca Guadagnino, departed the production. Executive producer Brad Simpson noted that both Murphy and Ellis share thematic interests in concealed identities and coming-of-age experiences during the AIDS crisis. Simpson characterized the story as a metaphor for the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s, with the killer representing the existential threat facing young people during that era.
The cast combines established performers with emerging talent. Kaia Gerber, known for appearances in the American Horror Story franchise, plays Susan Reynolds. Igby Rigney assumes the lead role of the autobiographical Ellis character, while Homer Gere portrays the enigmatic Robert Mallory. Jordan Roth, a seven-time Tony Award-winning producer, appears as personal assistant Steven Reinhardt. The production team emphasized aspirational casting, selecting performers who embodied the glamorous yet hedonistic aesthetic central to the narrative.
The production required actors to simulate drug use through practical effects, with cast members consuming milk powder and coconut powder substitutes in scenes depicting cocaine consumption. Hayes Warner, who plays character Debbie Schaffer, performed numerous drug-use scenes requiring significant quantities of powder. Despite billing as an erotic thriller, the series maintains relative restraint in depicting sexual content, relying instead on tension and suspense. Actor Igby Rigney demonstrated physical code-switching between his character’s heterosexual and homosexual encounters.
The series premiered on 5 August on FX/Hulu in the United States, with releases scheduled for 6 August in the United Kingdom and Australia on Disney+.
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