The Shards

What’s it about?

Set in Los Angeles in 1981, The Shards follows a 17-year-old fictionalised version of writer Bret Easton Ellis during his final year at high school. The arrival of a mysterious new student, Robert Mallory, coincides with the activities of a serial killer known as The Trawler.

The facts 

• Created by Ryan Murphy (American Horror Story; The Beauty) and Bret Easton Ellis
• Starring Igby Rigney (Midnight Mass), Kaia Gerber (Mother Mary), Homer Gere (Euphoria), and Hayes Warner
• English language 
• Episodes are released weekly and are between 45 and 60 minutes each
• Based on the semi-autobiographical novel by Bret Easton Ellis

Why did it get this rating? 

This series was self-rated by Disney+. You can find out more about self-rating by streaming providers here.

The following information breaks down the show’s content warnings for the first two episodes. It does not mention any character names or delve into plot points. If necessary, we occasionally include minor spoilers to help keep audiences informed about what they are watching.

Graphic violence

The series follows a serial killer who stalks, tortures, and kills teenage victims. In the first two episodes, the strongest content shown includes:

• A character is shown tied up and bloodied, while a masked person taunts them, forces them to eat their pet tropical fish, and injects them with a large dose of LSD.
• Characters receive repeated ominous phone calls with no one speaking at the other end.
• We see a dead body strung up on a tennis court, bloodied and decorated with mutilated cats.
• We see a teen character attacked and kidnapped as they are at their car.

Sex scenes and sexual references

A male character is shown masturbating many times, but the camera stays on his face.

A male and female character have sex, with the female character semi-dressed. We see the male character topless.

There is frequent verbal reference to sexual acts, including anal sex.

Drug use

Many of the teen characters are often shown smoking cigarettes. We see them snorting cocaine at parties, talking about taking “quaaludes”, and buying pot. One character is referred to as a “pothead” and is shown smoking joints and using a bong multiple times.

Content that may disturb

A teen character talks about being on a very restrictive diet in order to lose weight, and talks about their perception of their body size, which may be confronting for viewers who have dealt with disordered eating.

Adult characters are referred to as being sexually predatory towards teenage boys.

Offensive language

There is frequent use of offensive language, including “sh*t” and “f*ck”, and coarse language like “*sshole” “cock” and “pussy”.

Helplines

The references to disordered eating could be upsetting for some viewers, especially for those who have gone through similar experiences. If you are struggling with what you have seen on-screen please reach out for help. If you or someone you know needs to talk:

• 1737
• Safe to talk
• Lifeline
• Youthline

Further information 

• Why are ratings and content warnings important for me and my whānau?
• What we’re noticing: Smoking looking cool again (blog)