Netflix’s ‘Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story’ Trailer Teases Ella Beatty, Charlie Hunnam, Rebecca Hall in Bloody Tale of Infamous Axe Murders
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Netflix has released fuller detail alongside the trailer for "Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story," including its official synopsis and new comments from creator Ryan Murphy on the season's themes. The synopsis describes Lizzie Borden and her maid escaping a household of "humiliation and cruelty" into "a fantasy of sex, power and revenge," while Murphy has spoken about the show's inevitable controversy and its central question of whether "monsters are made, or born." The fourth season, Netflix's true-crime anthology from Murphy and Ian Brennan, stars Ella Beatty as Borden in a dramatisation of the notorious 1892 axe murders of her father and stepmother in Fall River, Massachusetts.
Murphy revealed this season features "three really great monsters": Borden, Aileen Wuornos (played by Sarah Paulson, who appears briefly in the trailer) and Elizabeth Báthory (Vicky Krieps), continuing the franchise's focus on infamous killers. Wuornos was previously portrayed by Charlize Theron, who won an Oscar for the role in the 2003 film "Monster." Murphy also described a personal connection to the case, recalling winning a childhood singing contest performing the "Lizzie Borden Took an Ax" nursery rhyme. "Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story" premieres with eight episodes on Netflix on 17 September.
- New trailer details reveal official synopsis and Murphy's "monsters made or born" theme
- Season also features Sarah Paulson as Aileen Wuornos, Vicky Krieps as Elizabeth Báthory
- Ella Beatty leads as Lizzie Borden; premieres 17 September on Netflix
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Netflix's "Monster" franchise, created by Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan, is a true-crime anthology series in which each season dramatises a notorious real-life killer. Previous seasons focused on Jeffrey Dahmer and the Menendez brothers; the upcoming fourth season turns to Lizzie Borden, a woman acquitted in 1893 of murdering her father and stepmother with an axe in Fall River, Massachusetts, a case that has remained infamous in American folklore.
Ella Beatty plays Borden, alongside Charlie Hunnam and Rebecca Hall, with the season also touching on other historical killers including Aileen Wuornos, played by Sarah Paulson, and Elizabeth Báthory, played by Vicky Krieps. Wuornos was previously the subject of the 2003 film "Monster," for which Charlize Theron won an Oscar, so her inclusion here links this series to that earlier work.
The franchise has drawn attention in the past for its dramatised, sometimes fictionalised, treatment of real crimes and the people affected by them, making each new season a point of discussion as well as viewing. This season is due to premiere on Netflix on 17 September with eight episodes.
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