Netflix’s Monster anthology takes a different route with Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story, putting a female killer at the centre of its fourth season. Created by Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan, the eight-episode series travels back to late 19th-century Fall River, Massachusetts, where Lizzie Borden’s troubled life gradually turns into one of America’s most infamous murder stories. Ella Beatty leads the series as Lizzie, with Rebecca Hall, Charlie Hunnam, Vicky Krieps and Billie Lourd rounding out the main cast.
What makes this season stand apart is the way it approaches Lizzie before the murders. She is presented as a peculiar young woman living under the control of her cruel stepmother Abby, whom she calls Mrs. Borden, while also dealing with a distant father and painful menstrual cycles. Her friendship with the family’s new maid, Bridget Sullivan, becomes the turning point that opens up a world Lizzie had barely experienced before.
A Bloody Opening Sets The Tone
The series wastes little time showing where Lizzie’s story is heading. It opens with a ruby-red curtain, an ornate piano and a strangely playful atmosphere before Lizzie walks barefoot through the house in her white nightgown. She eventually reaches Andrew Borden’s axe cupboard, while Mrs. Borden is busy fixing Lizzie’s poorly made bed in another room.
The quiet sequence suddenly explodes into violence when Lizzie comes through the door carrying an axe and attacks her stepmother. Andrew soon arrives home, lights his pipe and walks into the same nightmare, eventually suffering the same fate as his wife. With blood covering her nightgown, Lizzie calmly looks over what she has done, immediately establishing the show’s unusual mixture of horror, gothic imagery and dark humour.
The story then jumps back four months to April, allowing the series to explore what led Lizzie towards that infamous August 4, 1892 morning. Her painful periods and unusual personality have already driven away another potential suitor, while her father continues to see marriage as part of her future. With her sister Emma living independently, Lizzie instead finds comfort among the family’s cherry trees and in her dovecote with the birds she loves.
Bridget Changes Lizzie’s World
The arrival of Bridget Sullivan gives the story its emotional centre. Hired by Mrs. Borden as a new maid, Bridget quickly proves herself capable of handling the household’s demanding expectations while also bringing something completely different into Lizzie’s life. She talks about Paris, knows herbal remedies and gradually becomes a genuine friend rather than simply another person working inside the Borden household.
That friendship gives Lizzie a glimpse of the freedom she has been missing. After another particularly cruel act from Mrs. Borden, Lizzie and Bridget begin considering a drastic solution to their situation. Their plan to kill the Bordens becomes the point where the series shifts from a portrait of an isolated woman into a much darker crime story.
Despite the brutality at its centre, the show does not maintain a relentlessly grim tone. There is a playful and vibrant quality running through the opening episodes, with the gothic setting and unusual presentation giving the story a distinctive personality. Lizzie is also portrayed as someone whose circumstances gradually push her towards violence, rather than simply appearing as a killer without an emotional or personal history.
The series uses that setup to explore the restrictions faced by women during the period. Lizzie’s family, her limited choices and the expectations placed on women all become part of the circumstances surrounding her transformation. The result is a version of the story that places considerably more emphasis on the world surrounding Lizzie before the murders.
Sarah Paulson And The Monster Connection
There is, however, one element that raises questions about how the season will develop beyond its opening episodes. Sarah Paulson appears in the trailer as convicted serial killer Aileen Wuornos, whose crimes took place almost a century after the Borden murders. With only two episodes available for review, her place in the larger narrative is not completely clear.
The Monster franchise has previously connected famous killers within its storytelling. In the Ed Gein season, Ted Bundy and Richard Speck were also incorporated into the narrative, including an invented storyline connecting Gein with Bundy’s eventual capture. In this season, Wuornos appearing inside the Borden story initially feels similarly unexpected.
Another historical killer, however, is introduced in a way that fits more naturally into the show’s gothic storytelling. Bridget tells Lizzie about Countess Elizabeth Báthory of Ecsed, a 16th-century Hungarian noblewoman who was said to have bathed in the blood of young women to preserve her beauty. Krieps also portrays Báthory, creating a connection between the stories while allowing the series to explore the long-running obsession with women’s appearance.
That subplot also strengthens the show’s campy and gothic personality. Rather than simply inserting another notorious killer into Lizzie’s story, the Báthory tale becomes part of a conversation about beauty, womanhood and the expectations placed on women across different eras. It is one of the more naturally integrated elements of the opening episodes.
What Works And What Doesn’t
The biggest strength of The Lizzie Borden Story is its willingness to give the Monster formula a different perspective. Lizzie is not treated simply as another notorious killer, and the show spends time establishing her difficult circumstances before the murders. Ella Beatty’s performance also gives the character an engaging presence as the series moves between her quiet isolation and increasingly disturbing actions.
The show’s tone is another major part of its identity. The combination of period setting, bloody violence, gothic imagery and playful moments prevents the story from becoming a straightforward true-crime recreation. It instead feels deliberately stylised, allowing the series to turn a notorious historical case into something that sits between crime drama, psychological portrait and gothic entertainment.
The uncertainty surrounding Aileen Wuornos is one of the elements that may need more time to pay off. Based on the first two episodes, her appearance feels disconnected from Lizzie’s story, although the season has not yet revealed how that connection will develop. Since the review is based on only two episodes, the larger role of that storyline remains difficult to assess.
The series also takes liberties with the historical events surrounding the Borden murders. That is particularly important for viewers approaching the show as a factual retelling, because the narrative openly bends and reshapes the known story to build its dramatic world. As a result, its strongest appeal lies in how it interprets Lizzie rather than in treating every element as a literal reconstruction of what happened.
Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story Review Verdict
Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story gives the anthology a noticeably different identity by putting a female killer at the centre of its story. The series uses Lizzie’s family life, isolation and relationship with Bridget to build a character-driven path towards the murders rather than rushing straight into the crime itself. Ella Beatty leads an engaging cast, while the gothic presentation gives the season a distinctive visual and tonal personality.
After two episodes, there are still questions about some of the season’s larger choices, particularly the inclusion of Aileen Wuornos. But the opening chapters successfully establish a compelling version of Lizzie Borden and create a bloody, strange and surprisingly playful period drama around her. For viewers looking for something different from the earlier Monster seasons, this chapter offers a fresh direction while retaining the anthology’s fascination with infamous killers.
Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story FAQs
What is Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story about?
The Netflix series follows Lizzie Borden and explores the circumstances surrounding her family life and the infamous murders of her father and stepmother in 1892.
Who plays Lizzie Borden?
Ella Beatty plays Lizzie Borden in the series.
Who created Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story?
The fourth installment of the Monster anthology is created by Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan.
How many episodes does the season have?
Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story consists of eight episodes.
Who plays Bridget Sullivan?
Vicky Krieps plays Bridget Sullivan, the family’s new housemaid who develops a friendship with Lizzie.
Does the series stay completely historically accurate?
The story bends and reshapes the events surrounding the Borden murders for dramatic purposes, so it should be viewed as a stylised interpretation rather than a strict reconstruction of the historical events.
