Elisabeth Moss being a Scientologist makes Shining Girls harder to watch

Pajiba

The Apple TV+ thriller is very good, but it has an "Elisabeth Moss problem," says Alison Lanier, adding: "It’s just getting harder and harder to overlook the hypocrisy of Moss’s brand of feminist underdog character and her real-life affiliation. There’s one scene in The Shining Girls in which Kirby visits a culty storefront church where her estranged mother gathers worshippers around to lay on hands and pray for her, to Kirby’s visible bewilderment and discomfort. But she says nothing and goes along with it, as the quiet, practical character she is. The meta-ness of that moment is deeply uncomfortable. I mean, is Moss just politely along for a wacky ride, so as not to rock the boat? If that’s the case, why defend her affiliation with the church? I’ve been determined to take a generous view for so long. It’s just a shame that persistent sense of contradiction between actor and character impacts my enjoyment of what could easily be another Apple TV hit."