Lizzie Borden took an axe,
And gave her mother forty whacks.
When she saw what she had done,
She gave her father forty-one.
We all know the jump rope rhyme, but the details surrounding the real life 1892 murders of her father and step mother are a little more convoluted.
Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story
Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan struck true crime gold with their series Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story in 2022. The pair continued the anthology in 2024. This time the focus was on the Menendez brothers. One year later the third installment followed the story of Ed Gein, portrayed by Charlie Hunnam who has achieved an Emmy nomination for the part.
Fans were shocked. The announcement came during the release of Ed Gein that the Massachusetts murderess Lizzie Boreden would be the focus of the fourth segment of the series.
Furthermore, the axe-wielding Borden would be played by Ella Beatty. Charlie Hunnam would be playing Andrew Borden; a successful yet commonly known cheapskate of a businessman.
At the time of the announcement, Ella Beatty was an unknown name in the acting community. Not knowing her work, many still wonder what she will bring to the role. However, Beatty has worked with Murphy before. The actress had a recurring role on his 2024’s FX series Feud: Capote vs. The Swans which served as her television debut.
“It has been a dream come true to investigate this complicated person’s psychology and to examine an American crime that feels almost mythic in proportion. This season gives us our first female Monster and delves into female rage and repression, which I’ve found to feel strikingly relevant.”
In addition to Beatty and Hunnam, Vicky Krieps will be playing the family’s live-in maid Bridget Sullivan and Rebecca Hall as Lizzie’s step mother Abby Borden. Billie Lourd, Jessica Barden, and Sarah Paulson were also announced to have joined the cast.
Borden changed the image of what a murderer could be, and what a woman was capable of.
An official description for the season reads as follows:
“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 sex, 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.”
All eight episodes of Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story will be released on Netflix on September 17th.
