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Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story Is Bloody, Ambitious, Uneven
The series tells the story of Lizzie Borden, a woman accused of killing her father and stepmother with an axe.
The murders happened in Massachusetts in 1892.
The show does not spend much time asking whether Lizzie did it.
Instead, it asks what might have pushed her toward violence.
Lizzie lives under strict control in an unhappy household.
She becomes close to a new housemaid named Bridget Sullivan.
Their relationship becomes romantic and changes Lizzie’s life.
The show explores how women were controlled because of their bodies and sexuality.
Reviewers found the series exciting and beautifully designed, but also messy and sometimes too obvious.
Netflix’s eight-episode series revisits Lizzie Borden’s 1892 axe murders in Fall River, Massachusetts.
The show presents Lizzie’s guilt as established and focuses on what may have driven her violence.
Lizzie’s repressive home life and debilitating menstrual periods are central to the story.
Her relationship with housemaid Bridget Sullivan develops into a romantic, sexual connection and partnership.
Critics praise the performances and gothic style but say the series wanders and handles its themes bluntly.
- Who
- Lizzie Borden, her father Andrew Borden, her stepmother Abby Borden, and housemaid Bridget Sullivan are the central figures; the series stars Ella Beatty, Rebecca Hall, Charlie Hunnam, and Vicky Krieps.
- What
- An eight-episode Netflix drama revisits the murders of Andrew and Abby Borden and imagines the experiences that preceded them.
- Where
- The story is set primarily in the Borden home in Fall River, Massachusetts.
- When
- The murders occurred on August 4, 1892; the series rewinds four months before the killings.
- Why
- The series explores possible emotional and social forces behind Lizzie’s violence, including repression, sexuality, family control, and bodily autonomy.
Ambitious and watchable
Uneven and overstuffed
Performances
Ambitious and watchable
Ella Beatty, Rebecca Hall, Charlie Hunnam, and Vicky Krieps are described as committed, with Krieps’s Bridget viewed as especially interesting.
Uneven and overstuffed
Strong performances cannot fully overcome characters and themes that are often written without subtlety.
Themes
Ambitious and watchable
The series ambitiously examines how women have historically been controlled through their bodies, sexuality, and social repression.
Uneven and overstuffed
Its symbolism can be blunt, relying heavily on period blood, sex, bodily fluids, abortifacients, and axes instead of developing its ideas more carefully.
Storytelling
Ambitious and watchable
The gothic production design and theatrical presentation of violence and sexuality make the show distinctive and compelling.
Uneven and overstuffed
After establishing its premise, the eight-episode story wanders and repeatedly claims larger significance without fully demonstrating it.
Key facts
- Series
- Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story
- Platform
- Netflix
- Episodes
- Eight
- Murder date
- August 4, 1892
- Location
- Fall River, Massachusetts
- Central relationship
- Lizzie Borden and housemaid Bridget Sullivan
- Review assessment
- Watchable and visually distinctive, but uneven and thematically unfocused
Sources
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