WATCH: Horned-up nepo babies are stalked by a serial killer in ’80-set queer thriller The Shards

Ryan Murphy & Bret Easton Ellis are a match made in hell for FX’s lurid, ’80s set thriller The Shards, an adaptation of the latter’s acclaimed auto-fiction novel of the same name.

It’s actually a wonder it took these two out provocateurs so long to collaborate considering their overlapping interests, many of which are on display in the series’ first trailer: Beautiful people lying & cheating, beautiful people flaunting their wealth, beautiful people exploring their sexuality, beautiful people conspiring to murder.

How about we take this to the next level?

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Yes, The Shards has it all!

Ellis initially released the story on his podcast as a serialized audiobook between 2020 and 2021, later publishing it as a novel in early 2023. Before long, HBO scooped up the rights to bring it to TV and none other than Luca Guadagnino was set to direct, but when that fell through it eventually found its way to FX, home to Murphy’s Nip/Tuck, American Horror Story, Pose, The Beauty, and Love Story, just to name a few.

Very loosely based on the author’s own teenage years in 1980s Los Angeles, takes us to the halls of the elite Buckley prep school, where Bret (The Fall of the House Of Usher‘s Igby Rigney) is an aspiring screenwriter beginning his senior year.

Naturally, he surrounds himself with a posh clique of nepo babies, the cool kids everyone wants to be—or be with. There’s Bret’s girlfriend Debbie (pop singer Hayes Warner), whose dad (American Horror Story‘s Wes Bentley) is a powerful movie producer that just might be able to give him his big break in Hollywood.

Then there’s his best friend Thom (Graham Campbell, star of Broadway’s Appropriate) and his girlfriend Susan (Bottoms‘ Kaia Gerber), the newly minted Homecoming king and queen who rule the school.

All is right in their perfect little privileged bubble, but outside of that the city is trembling in fear as a serial killer dubbed “The Trawler” stalks the area, largely targeting teen girls with a series of mind games before dispatching them on the grizzliest of ways.

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On top of that, a handsome & mysterious new student named Robert (Homer Gere, recently seen on Euphoria Season 3) charms his way into the friend group, who Bret becomes increasingly convinced is The Trawler himself. Is he jealous and paranoid, or is this interloper actually hiding some sinister secrets?

And speaking of secrets, there are plenty to go around, including the fact that Bret’s beginning to explore his sexuality, sleeping around with a few male classmates, unbeknownst to Debbie. You might only get a brief glimpse of any of that in the trailer, but this is a Ryan Murphy production we’re talking about—of course it’s going to be gay!

With Bret Easton Ellis serving as an Executive Producer & co-writer of a number of episodes, The Shards also stars Evan Rachel Wood (Westworld), Owen Painter (Wednesday), Daniel Dale (Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed), and Tony-winning Broadway producer/NYC icon Jordan Roth.

Plus, in addition to what’s sure to be a killer ’80s soundtrack, it was also recently revealed the series will feature new, original music from Troye Sivan & Leland, so you know this show’s going to sound as good as it looks!

The ten-episode series is set to launch August 5 on FX—and simultaneously on Hulu—with a two-part premiere before new episodes drop weekly every Wednesday.

Check out the first trailer for The Shards below:

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Was it all too good to be true?

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