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CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION | ||
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Positive:
18
Mixed:
5
Negative:
3
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Critic Reviews
IndieWireMar 15, 2022
Season 1 Review:
Things could go off the rails in the closing chapters, tainting the attentive construction, arresting performances, and spine-tingling teases. But the creative trio of Moss, MacLaren, and Luisa has made me a believer. These first four episodes aren’t just set-up. They’re exhilarating.
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Apr 27, 2022
Apr 22, 2022
Season 1 Review:
Instead of a single performance, Moss gives a cluster of them, finely calibrating Kirby’s posture, confidence, and anxiety level to reflect each new reality. ... Because the show sticks so close to her fractured consciousness, we come to appreciate how hard it is for her to survive, let alone conduct such an unusual investigation.
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The PlaylistApr 21, 2022
RogerEbert.comOct 3, 2023
Apr 28, 2022
Season 1 Review:
It’s taking nothing away from the rest of a fine cast to note that “Shining Girls” is 75% the Elisabeth Moss Show. ... That said, there are other things to recommend it, in the production and the performances, a sense of the ordinary that keeps the uncanny elements rooted to something recognizably real, and makes characters that flirt with cliche into people you can believe in.
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Apr 27, 2022
Season 1 Review:
Because of how convincingly Moss plays Kirby’s dilemma, it’s completely possible to pretend that the trippier genre elements either aren’t there at all or don’t matter. ... Even once you know generally what’s happening, the hows and whys never really materialize, which is something more likely to bother viewers approaching Shining Girls as a thriller than as a character study. It doesn’t help that none of the supporting players around Moss have much to play.
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Apr 27, 2022
Season 1 Review:
It has a lot to say about surviving trauma and gaining agency as Kirby fights for control and to put an end to Harper’s killing spree. But not everything in its story works, and with a high-concept drama such as this one, every misstep dims the show’s potential just a little bit more.
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ColliderOct 3, 2023
Season 1 Review:
Even after going in blind and getting frustrated near the third episode by a confusing story, the series reeled me back in when the supernatural aspect is revealed in full. For those who enjoy a more experimental approach to storytelling, unburdened by the confines of one specific genre, Shining Girls is an exciting entry for Apple TV+.
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Apr 27, 2022
Season 1 Review:
Shining Girls unfolds slowly, like Zodiac on Xanax, which could be a hypnotic vibe to some, or an enervating one to others. In order to keep us hooked, especially after the ground rules are established in the first four episodes, the show’s writers and directors parcel out details.
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Apr 30, 2022
Season 1 Review:
As a critic, I get paid to watch TV shows, which is a lucky thing for Apple TV's new series Shining Girls, because for its first two and a half hours, it's nearly unwatchable, even though it starts with a reasonably enticing premise: a couple of reporters trying to track down a serial killer. Slooooow, confusing and riddled with what-the-hell moments, it moves at the pace of a snail on Quaaludes. And then, the snail gets a shot of crystal meth. Shining Girls is an immensely entertaining show, if you have the time and patience to wait it out.
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Radio TimesApr 29, 2022
Season 1 Review:
Non-linear storytelling has always been more easily accomplished in novels than in films or series, and Shining Girls unfortunately struggles to get it right. It does mostly stick the landing, but it's a bumpy, occasionally frustrating road before this series is truly able to shine.
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Oct 3, 2023
Season 1 Review:
Alongside Moss, Moura as the journalist aiding her, and Jamie Bell as the personification of human venality pursuing her, do fine work. But there’s simply not enough story here to make for a credible eight-episode series, which means that things lumber when they should soar, and every story point is overexamined.
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Apr 18, 2022
Season 1 Review:
Although the show’s concept of trauma resonating throughout multiple eras and warping reality itself is definitely intriguing, it’s only touched on briefly, with a few on-the-nose snatches of dialogue delivered by astronomer Jin-Sook (Philippa Soo) being forced to do much of the thematic heavy lifting. The rest of the time, the focus is on lukewarm explorations of patriarchal oppression, journalistic integrity, and familial strife, and the series fails to set up any believable conflicts, let alone to say anything new.
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Apr 29, 2022
Season 1 Review:
You never get a sense of the story’s internal logic. The whole thing feels undercooked and overcomplicated. The show’s vibe is very “curl up in a cardigan with a glass of wine on a rainy day.” But despite the wild swings of the story, the series tends to feel tonally monotonous and can’t sustain a sense of tension over its eight episodes.
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