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 the full trailer for "Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story," the fourth season of Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan's true-crime anthology series, confirming the show's cast and central themes. Ella Beatty stars as Lizzie Borden, the woman tried and acquitted over the notorious 1892 axe murders of her father and stepmother in Fall River, Massachusetts, marking the franchise's first female lead. Murphy has spoken about the season's inevitable controversy and its recurring question of whether "monsters are made, or born," describing a personal connection to the case dating back to childhood.
The official synopsis frames Borden and her maid as trapped in a household of "humiliation and cruelty" before escaping into "a fantasy of sex, power and revenge" that culminates in the killings. Murphy said the season features "three great monsters": Borden, serial killer Aileen Wuornos (played by Sarah Paulson, previously portrayed on film by Oscar-winner Charlize Theron) and Elizabeth Báthory (Vicky Krieps), with Paulson making a brief trailer appearance. The cast also includes Charlie Hunnam and Rebecca Hall, though no release date has yet been confirmed.
- Netflix drops trailer for "Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story," season four
- Ella Beatty plays Borden; Sarah Paulson and Vicky Krieps also feature
- Murphy calls the axe-murder tale a "very modern story" about women and society
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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.