
Elisabeth Moss Says 'Shining Girls' Contains "Genre-Bending Elements"

May 10 2022, Published 6:17 p.m. ET
Spoiler alert: This article contains minor spoilers for Shining Girls.
We're simple individuals: We see Elisabeth Moss in a new show, and we automatically decide to binge it. Of course, that's exactly what we did when Apple TV Plus launched its brand-new series, Shining Girls.
Based on the 2013 novel of the same name, the show follows Kirby (Elisabeth Moss), a woman who survives a brutal attack; years later, she's left in a "constantly shifting reality" and soon learns that a "recent murder is linked to her assault," per the synopsis.
Kirby soon starts working with Dan Velazquez (Wagner Moura), a veteran reporter who helps her understand her "ever-changing present and confront her past." OK, we know it sounds a bit confusing, so you might be thinking: What genre is Shining Girls?
Here's everything we know.

What genre is 'Shining Girls'?
On the surface, Shining Girls is a full-blown thriller; however, star Elisabeth Moss believes the series is much more than that.
The 39-year-old actress recently told Rotten Tomatoes that she's never truly worked with a genre like this before — sure, we can see the similarities to her other notable roles, yet, there are aspects that make her work on Shining Girls something completely different.
Elisabeth — who also executive-produces and directs the series — noted that Shining Girls is a mystery with "genre-bending elements." Wow, it appears Apple TV Plus loves to create genre-bending productions (yes, we're talking about The Afterparty).
Is 'Shining Girls' sci-fi?
Given its elements of time travel, it's safe to say that Shining Girls is science-fiction. The series also presents some form of a multiverse, as Kirby's reality is so unstable that she sometimes wakes up utterly confused about her life.
Sometimes, Kirby lives alone with her cat Grendel; other times, she's living with her mother and Grendel is a dog. In other instances, she's married to a man she only remembers as a colleague.

It's all very bizarre, but multiversal storylines are extremely popular right now, as seen by the success of A24's Everything Everywhere All at Once and Marvel's Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
New episodes of Shining Girls drop every Friday on Apple TV Plus.