Based on Lauren Beukes' bestselling novel The Shining Girls, the series follows Kirby Mazrachi (Elisabeth Moss), a Chicago journalist who survives a brutal attack but finds her reality has changed dramatically as she tracks down the attacker. After learning that a recent murder is similar to her own, Kirby teams up with troubled veteran reporter Dan Velazquez (Wagner Moura) to uncover the attacker's identity. The two gradually discover that these unsolved cases are connected, but their personal traumas and Kirby's own blurred reality cause the attacker to always be one step ahead.