Sharp Objects

Reporter Camille Preaker confronts the psychological demons from her past when she returns to her hometown to investigate the murders of two young girls.

Sharp Objects (2018) is an American HBO psychological mystery limited series created by Marti Noxon. Amy Adams plays Camille Preaker, a damaged alcoholic reporter for a St. Louis newspaper who returns to her small hometown in Missouri to cover the murders of two young girls. Patricia Clarkson plays her controlling, socially polished mother Adora Crellin, and Eliza Scanlen plays her half-sister Amma, whose rebellious behavior unsettles the household. Chris Messina plays the local detective Richard Willis, who becomes an uneasy ally. Across eight hour-long episodes, the engine of the story is Camille's struggle to extract the truth from a town that protects its secrets, while her own memories of childhood trauma resurface in flashbacks and her body bears the marks of self-harm. Each episode peels back another layer of a wealthy, decaying family and a community that has learned to look away. The tone is brooding, claustrophobic and humid, with long, unsettling silences and a dread that builds steadily rather than through jump scares. Fans of Twin Peaks, True Detective and Big Little Lies will find resonance in its atmospheric small town unease and its focus on fractured women and buried family history.

Critics praise Amy Adams's performance and the atmospheric, beautifully shot Southern Gothic mood while faulting its slow pacing and overlong runtime.

• Twin Peakspsychological small town mystery, trauma and family secrets, bleak atmospheric dread
• True Detectivedamaged journalist investigating murders in hometown, grim southern noir tone
• Big Little Liesslow burn murder investigation with a haunted protagonist and dysfunctional family, limited series
• The Killingpsychological thriller centered on a dark family secret and a returning protagonist

Created by

Marti Noxon

Release Date

2018-07-08

Episode runtime

54 min

Rating

8.0 / 10 (1150)

What is Sharp Objects about?

A troubled small-town reporter returns to her Missouri hometown to investigate the murders of two girls and confronts the damage of her own childhood.

What is Sharp Objects like to watch?

Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Sharp Objects as slow, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.

Is Sharp Objects violent?

Somewhat. Ember rates the violence in Sharp Objects as moderate.

What did critics think of Sharp Objects?

Critics praise Amy Adams's performance and the atmospheric, beautifully shot Southern Gothic mood while faulting its slow pacing and overlong runtime.

Which shows are like Sharp Objects?

Shows with a similar feel include Twin Peaks, True Detective, Big Little Lies, and The Killing.

How long is Sharp Objects?

Sharp Objects: 1 season, 8 episodes.

Is Sharp Objects still running?

No, Sharp Objects has ended.

Where can I watch Sharp Objects?

In United States, Sharp Objects streams on HBO Max Amazon Channel, HBO Max.