Netflix has released the official trailer for Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story, the fourth installment of Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan’s acclaimed true-crime anthology series. Arriving September 17 with all eight episodes, the season marks a major shift: for the first time, the series centers on a female “monster.” Ella Beatty stars as the infamous Lizzie Borden, the woman accused—and ultimately acquitted—of the 1892 axe murders of her father and stepmother in Fall River, Massachusetts.
The trailer opens with a chilling declaration: “There’s nothing wrong with blood. Blood is power. Blood is freedom.” From there it plunges into a claustrophobic world of Victorian repression, simmering rage, and explosive violence. Viewers see a young woman trapped in a house built on humiliation and cruelty, finding unexpected connection and liberation with the family’s rebellious Irish maid. What begins as shared fantasy of sex, power, and escape ends in bloodshed that shocks a nation and forges a lasting legend.
MONSTER: The Lizzie Borden Story | Netflix | Ella Beatty
A House of Cruelty and a Dream of Freedom
The official synopsis captures the series’ provocative angle. Lizzie, the repressed daughter of a wealthy New England family, and Bridget “Maggie” Sullivan, the live-in maid, find themselves confined in an environment of constant control and emotional abuse. Together they invent a private world of desire and defiance. When that fantasy collides with reality, the resulting murders—committed with an axe—are so brutal that society refuses to believe a woman could have been capable of them. “No way a woman could do this. This is the work of a man,” one voice insists. Lizzie, covered in blood, answers with quiet certainty.
The trailer leans into the sensuality and the savagery in equal measure. Intimate moments between the women contrast with the cold, oppressive atmosphere of the Borden household. Axes gleam. Blood splatters across faces and clothing in vivid patterns. The classic nursery rhyme—“Lizzie Borden took an axe…”—echoes through the footage, now charged with new menace. By the end, Lizzie stands transformed: no longer the quiet, constrained daughter, but an icon who refuses to remain imprisoned.
The Cast Bringing the Legend to Life
Ella Beatty, previously seen in Feud: Capote vs. The Swans and the Sundance standout If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, takes on the complex central role. She is joined by a strong ensemble that mixes Murphy regulars with fresh faces:
| Role | Actor | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Lizzie Borden | Ella Beatty | First female lead in the Monster series |
| Bridget “Maggie” Sullivan | Vicky Krieps | The rebellious maid; also appears as Elizabeth Báthory |
| Andrew Borden | Charlie Hunnam | Lizzie’s controlling father (previously Ed Gein) |
| Abby Borden | Rebecca Hall | Lizzie’s stepmother |
| Emma Borden | Billie Lourd | Lizzie’s older sister |
| Nance O’Neil | Jessica Barden | Stage actress and close friend of Lizzie |
| Aileen Wuornos | Sarah Paulson | Brief but pointed appearance |
Charlie Hunnam returns to the Monster universe after portraying Ed Gein in the previous season, this time as the stern patriarch whose rigidity fuels the household tension. Rebecca Hall brings her trademark intensity to Abby, while Vicky Krieps delivers a performance that positions the maid as both confidante and catalyst. Sarah Paulson’s cameo as Aileen Wuornos—another woman who killed in response to a lifetime of abuse—signals the season’s broader interest in female rage across history.
Why This Story Still Resonates
The Lizzie Borden case has fascinated the public for more than 130 years precisely because it resists easy answers. Acquitted by an all-male jury in 1893, Borden lived the rest of her life under a cloud of suspicion. The murders remain officially unsolved. Murphy and Brennan use that ambiguity as a springboard, exploring not only what may have happened on that August morning in 1892, but why society found the idea of a female killer so threatening.
The trailer suggests the series will examine class, gender, sexuality, and the crushing weight of domestic expectation. Blood becomes both literal and metaphorical—a symbol of power reclaimed. In an era when conversations about women’s anger, autonomy, and the cost of silence remain urgent, The Lizzie Borden Story arrives with sharp relevance. It asks whether the “monster” is the woman who finally strikes back, or the system that left her no other option.
The Anthology Continues to Evolve
Previous seasons focused on Jeffrey Dahmer, the Menendez brothers, and Ed Gein—stories of male violence that became cultural touchstones. By turning to Lizzie Borden, the series expands its lens. The decision to interweave figures like Aileen Wuornos and even Elizabeth Báthory hints at a larger meditation on how women who kill are remembered, mythologized, or erased.
Early reactions to the trailer already reflect the mixture of anticipation and unease that Monster thrives on. Some viewers celebrate the focus on female rage and the lush period aesthetic. Others note the series’ tendency toward stylized excess and question how much new insight can be mined from such a well-trodden case. What seems clear is that Murphy and Brennan have no interest in a dry historical reenactment. They are crafting a fever dream of repression and release, sex and slaughter, confinement and legend.
Ready for September 17
Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story promises to be the anthology’s most provocative chapter yet. With Ella Beatty at its center, a powerhouse supporting cast, and a tone that blends eroticism with horror, the series is poised to dominate conversations the moment it drops. Whether it ultimately humanizes Lizzie, condemns her, or leaves her forever ambiguous, one thing is certain: the axe has been raised, and the blood is about to flow.
Hell hath no fury like Lizzie. All eight episodes of Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story premiere on Netflix on September 17.
