Ryan Murphy’s ‘Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story’ sets release date as first-look photos reveal what to expect
‘Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story’ now has a confirmed release date, as well as first-look stills that reveal what to expect from the upcoming season. The title marks the fourth entry in the Netflix true-crime biographical anthology series ‘Monster’, created by Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan. ‘The Lizzie Borden Story’ is set to release on September 17 on Netflix. All eight episodes will be available to stream at once. Interestingly, it is the first installment in the true-crime series that will focus on a woman. Lizzie is also the show's first alleged criminal who got away with her crimes in the eyes of the law.
The official logline reads: “When the repressed daughter of a wealthy New England family and her rebellious maid find themselves trapped in a house built on humiliation and cruelty, they escape into a fantasy of s*x, power, and revenge. The gruesome unsolved murders that follow don’t just shock the world—they give birth to an icon who refuses to live imprisoned in a cage, choosing instead to forge her own legend: shocking, monstrous, and gloriously free.” Ella Beatty is set to play Lizzie in the lead role. The supporting cast includes Vicky Krieps as Bridget Sullivan, Oliver Spenceman as Stephen, Rebecca Hall as Abby Borden, and Charlie Hunnam as Andrew Borden. Other cast members include Billie Lourd, Joey Pollari, Sarah Paulson, and Jessica Barden.
One of the first-look images features Ella as a blood-soaked Lizzie, and it has fans wondering whether she is indeed the killer. The other stills feature the supporting cast members. The series is based on a true event that took place in 1892. Lizzie, who was a Sunday school teacher, was accused of murdering her father and stepmother with an axe inside their home. She stood trial before a jury, and the proceedings lasted about an hour. In the end, the all-male jury decided that she could not have been behind the crime. According to them, someone was responsible, as they believed a woman was incapable of delivering forty axe blows to her parents.
The crime was never officially solved, but it remained etched in the public's memory. Now, Murphy is shining a new light on the infamous case. In a Vanity Fair interview, he shared, “They literally thought that a woman was too weak to pick up an axe…. To be a woman in that period was to be almost a completely different species. You were treated like you were incapable of not only actions, but the thoughts that a man was capable of.” It is only a matter of time before viewers find out whether the show presents her as the criminal after all or leaves the ending open, considering Lizzie was never found guilty.
