Dan MedeirosThe Herald News
Updated Aug. 20, 2026, 2:59 p.m. ET
- Netflix‘s new series “Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story” is the fourth season of Ryan Murphy’s anthology.
- The show departs from the series’ format as Lizzie Borden was acquitted of the 1892 murders.
- The trailer depicts historical inaccuracies, including a fictional relationship and incorrect murder details.
- Actress Sarah Paulsen appears as serial killer Aileen Wuornos to tie into a theme of “female rage.”
A full trailer for Netflix’s “Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story” is here — and it promises to thrill audiences but could frustrate history buffs for years to come.
The fourth season of the “Monster” series by creator Ryan Murphy stars Ella Beatty as Fall River’s most infamous resident, accused and acquitted of murdering her father and stepmother with what’s believed to be a hatchet in 1892.
Charlie Hunnam plays Andrew Borden, a thrifty Fall River businessman, and Rebecca Hall is Abby Borden, his second wife. Both were found brutally butchered in their Second Street home on the morning of Aug. 4, 1892. Lizzie was the only suspect brought to trial, and was acquitted. The crime has never been solved.
What’s different about this version of ‘Monster’?
“Monster” has previously depicted the life and crimes of Jeffrey Dahmer, the Menendez brothers and Ed Gein, insane killers all convicted of brutal crimes.
The Lizzie Borden series departs significantly from the show’s format in that Borden was never proven to have killed her father and stepmother.
In fact, evidence suggests the real Lizzie may not have been a “Monster” at all – she lived in solitude after the killings, shunned by polite society and hounded by rumor-mongers. Local kids called her “Auntie Borden,” and she gave generously to the Animal Rescue League upon her death in 1927.
Is ‘Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story’ based in reality?
Little is known about where the show is going specifically, whether it attempts to depict the historical events accurately or whether what’s seen are fantasy sequences — but the trailer seems to paint Lizzie as being the murderer.
However, one shot shows Lizzie stabbing Abby in the stomach with a knife, which never happened. So it’s possible what audiences are seeing could be only in Lizzie’s imagination.
Lizzie also seems to be in a lesbian thrill-kill relationship with maid Bridget Sullivan, portrayed by Vicky Krieps (sporting a thick German accent instead of Irish). The two are seen conspiring to murder the Bordens in various ways, settling on a hatchet.
There’s no real evidence for Lizzie being gay; the idea features in a 1984 fictionalized novel called “Lizzie” by crime writer Evan Hunter.
An exterior shot of a house may be meant to be the Borden house on Second Street, containing lush gardens and a stone outbuilding where Lizzie keeps pigeons and is seen reveling in a bath.It’s far more ornate than the plain drab house the Bordens occupied and their barn (and the Bordens didn’t have a bathtub).
Who is the person at the end of the ‘Lizzie Borden’ trailer?
The trailer ends on a strangely modern note, showing a mysterious tourist at the Lizzie Borden House years later saying she knows “what happened.”
That’s actress Sarah Paulsen portraying Aileen Wuornos, a serial killer convicted for a string of murders committed in 1989 and 1990 in Florida. Netflix’s Tudum news site has said the idea is to tie together the theme of “female rage.”
But no, Wuornos never visited the Lizzie Borden House. By the time it opened to the public as a bed and breakfast tourist attraction in 1996, Wuornos was behind bars for murder.
When can I see ‘Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story’?
“Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story” will drop on Netflix on Sept. 17.
