FX’s New Teen Thriller ‘The Shards’ Has Its Rotten Tomatoes Verdict – Here’s What the Critics Are Saying

Ryan Murphy’s latest TV series has officially made its debut, and critics are already divided. The Shards, created by Ryan Murphy and Bret Easton Ellis for FX and Hulu, premiered on August 5, bringing Ellis’ semi-autobiographical novel to the screen. Early reviews have now given fans a better idea of what to expect, with the first season currently holding a 52% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes based on 29 reviews.

The series is set in Los Angeles in 1981 and follows a fictionalized 17-year-old version of Bret Easton Ellis, played by Igby Rigney, during his final year at the elite Buckley prep school. His seemingly perfect life begins to change when a mysterious new student, Robert Mallory, arrives. At the same time, a serial killer known as The Trawler is targeting teenagers across the city, creating a growing sense of fear and suspicion.

Alongside Rigney, the cast includes Homer Gere as Robert Mallory, Graham Campbell as Thom Wright, Hayes Warner as Debbie Schaffer, Wes Bentley as Terry Schaffer, and Kaia Gerber as Susan Reynolds.

While the show’s stylish look and 1980s atmosphere have earned praise, many critics disagree on whether the story lives up to its strong visuals.

Tim Stevens of The Spool was among the harshest reviewers. He gave the series a Rotten rating and wrote, “Somewhere along the way, it rushed past ‘signature style’ directly into parody.” His review argues that the series becomes more focused on style than meaningful storytelling.

Lindsay Traves of Pajiba also wasn’t impressed. She felt the adaptation failed to capture the deeper themes of Ellis’ novel, writing that “The TV adaptation struggles to work with that, it ending up a vapid and hollow portrait of hot young people and a slasher killer. What else should we expect from Ryan Murphy?”

Joe Lipsett from Queer.Horror.Movies. was equally critical, giving the series a 1 out of 5 score. He wrote, “The Shards isn’t fun enough or campy enough or weird enough or salacious enough. It’s pretty packaging standing in for actual substance and no amount of coke or ’80s needle drops can save it.”

Not every critic shared those opinions. Randy Myers of the San Jose Mercury News gave the series 3.5 out of 4 stars and praised both the atmosphere and storytelling. He wrote, “The Shards captures — as Ellis always has — the mood, the style, the music and the tempo of these wild times. And Ellis and Murphy do it with style and substance.”

Robert Lloyd of the Los Angeles Times also enjoyed the series despite acknowledging its over-the-top nature. He described it as “often absurd and always melodramatic,” but added that viewers looking for a stylish thriller filled with murder, sex, drugs, and 1980s Los Angeles culture “can’t do better than this.”

Karina Adelgaard of Heaven of Horror had mixed feelings. She gave the series 3 out of 5 stars, saying, “For me, The Shards began as intriguing, became downright dull, and then picked up and became interesting again.” She also felt the show could have benefited from a shorter episode count, saying it was “often about looking good rather than being good.”

Collider’s Gabrielle Moss was also positive, awarding the series a 7 out of 10. She praised its restrained approach compared to some of Ryan Murphy’s previous projects, writing, “The Shards never gets into the over-the-top emotionality that AHS often uses to paper over its flaws. Instead, the show… plays its cards close to its chest, and hopes you care enough to lean in and read them.”

For now, The Shards has landed squarely in mixed-review territory. Critics agree that the series delivers impressive visuals, a strong 1980s setting, and an intriguing mystery, but opinions are sharply divided on whether its story matches its stylish presentation. With the season now underway, audiences will soon decide whether they agree with critics or see something more in Ryan Murphy and Bret Easton Ellis’ latest collaboration.

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