‘Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story’ Review: TikTokified Murder Drama Falls Flat

Four seasons into Ryan Murphy’s Monster anthology series, it might be time to admit the haters were right: this horrifically uninspired show betrays the very premise it aims for, serving more as propaganda for Borden (who is long dead) and her victims as the real culprits. This, of course, has been the subject of much debate stemming from the Dahmer series, but here the show embraces it entirely and it’s all the worse for it.

Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story is the fourth season in Ryan Murphy’s Monster anthology series following outings focused on Jeffrey Dahmer, the Menendez Brothers, and Ed Gein. This season focuses on suspected axe murderer Lizzie Borden (Ella Beatty), whose father (Charlie Hunnam’s Andrew) and stepmother (Rebecca Hall’s Abby) were found dead with over eighty axe wounds between them. The show also follows Aileen Wuornos (Sarah Paulson) in the late ’70s and early ’80s as she becomes obsessed with Borden and kills allegedly abusive men who engage in prostitution with her.

To put it lightly, The Lizzie Borden Story is a factual shitstorm. It feels as if the writing team behind this season adapted TikTok headcanons into relationships, motives, and everything in between. That would be fine if the series as whole hadn’t already established its hyper-realistic analysis of these murders and their societal impact— it’s actually what made the Dahmer season, starring Evan Peters, so unnerving. But now, these killings feel not only justified (when in reality we know next to nothing about the real-life relationship and inner workings of the family) but glorified, and in the hands of a series so prominent in the cultural zeitgeist, this disregard for the truth can be haunting, especially when killers such as Jeffrey Dahmer are already being thirsted over.

The lack of information about the Borden family, this choice of individual to continue the anthology series is baffling as the show feels incredibly drawn out. There is simply not enough drama or material for a show such as this to be engaging across all eight episodes, and shifting between these two timelines does not help matters either, stalling the series even further.

The one thing all four of these shows do right though, is get phenomenal performances out of their stars. Ella Beatty proves talent can be genetic, walking in the shows of her father Warren and mother Annette Bening. She’s great as Lizzie Borden, giving a subdued performance but shifting into a dramatic, bloodthirsty killer when needed. She is nowhere near as fantastic as Rebecca Hall, though, who outshines every one of her castmates. She plays Abby, the vicious, entitled, and cruel stepmother to Lizzie. Hall eats up her dialogue, delivering every line with all her might. Charlie Hunnam plays off this a lot, giving a very different performance to his past role of Ed Gein, he is more subdued than Hall but goes big plenty of times across the season, coming across as volatile and becomes a definite highlight of the show.

Whilst needle drops are not a stranger to this series, Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story chooses a variety of weird, bombastic, and unhinged ones. The most memorable ones for me are definitely “Cherry Bomb” by the Runaways (played over an episode that concerns itself with a child going through her first menstrual period) and the instrumental version of The Verve’s “Bitter Sweet Symphony”. For a period piece, these are most definitely out-there choices.

The weirdest thing about this series is that it’s more of a romance than a biopic-drama about a suspected serial killer? The main plot of the show centres around Lizzie and her family’s new maid, Bridget Sullivan, played by Vicky Krieps. As far as I can tell, this is a creation for the show, and there are quite sensual moments between the two, including bathing in tubs full of cherries together, multiple implied sex scenes and more. There are moments that, between sleeping with Lizzie and seducing her father for quick cash, the show implies her manipulation might be the core reason as to why Lizzie sets out to murder her family. I wasn’t very fond of this decision, given the utter disregard for the truth the season has now made its motto.

Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story can be serviceable at times, for those immune to the moral repugnancy behind the series, and is absolutely worth a watch for fans of Rebecca Hall and Charlie Hunnam, though it’s a far cry from the quality of Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story. If Ryan Murphy and Netflix decide to make a fifth season, they’ll need to focus on a killer with a much more public story and intense history, or face similar quality to this season.

Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story is showrun by Ian Brennan and stars Ella Beatty as Lizzie Borden, Vicky Krieps as Bridget Sullivan, Charlie Hunnam as Andrew Borden, Rebecca Hall as Abby Borden, Sarah Paulson as Aileen Wuornos, Billie Lourd as Emma Borden, Jessica Barden as Nance O’Neil, and Joey Pollari as John Morse. The series is now streaming on Netflix. Watch it below:

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