The Shards trailer promises sex, drugs, and a teenage Bret Easton Ellis

The Ryan Murphy-produced series debuts on Hulu and FX next month.

By Drew Gillis  |  July 14, 2026 | 10:48am
Image via FX
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The Shards trailer promises sex, drugs, and a teenage Bret Easton Ellis

Series with Ryan Murphy’s hands in them, whether he’s actually writing and directing them or whether he’s just producing them for FX, tend to have a specific look. Regardless of if they’re focused on Truman Capote, John F. Kennedy, Jr., or O.J. Simpson, they tend to be pretty saturated and bright. Your mileage with this look will probably vary, but if there was ever a time to use it, a story centered on a teenage Bret Easton Ellis in 1981 Los Angeles is a pretty good one. FX released the first trailer for The Shards today, an adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’ 2023 autofictional book of the same name. The debuts Igby Rigney as Bret, with Homer Gere, Graham Campbell, Hayes Warner, Wes Bentley, and Kaia Gerber rounding out the main cast. 

A synopsis for the series reads, in part:

Set against the vivid backdrop of 1980s Los Angeles, the series follows a group of privileged high school seniors at an elite prep school as they navigate identity, sex, jealousy, obsession and the dangers lurking beneath the surface of American adolescence.

 At its center is Bret (Igby Rigney), an aspiring writer and keenly observant teenager whose reality begins to unravel with the arrival of a mysterious and magnetic new student, Robert Mallory (Homer Gere). Transferring in just before his senior year, Robert’s appearance coincides with the growing terror of The Trawler, a serial killer targeting teenagers across the city.  

The Shards debuts on FX and Hulu on August 5.

 
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