Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan‘s true-crime anthology series continues with the latest chapter, “Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story,” set to arrive next month, and we can now share some first-look images. As the title suggests this new eight-episode streaming series tells the story of infamous American axe murderer Lizzie Borden, played by on-the-rise actress Ella Beatty (yes, she’s the daughter of Annette Bening and Warren Beatty), who is likely best known for projects such as Rose Byrne‘s “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” and previously worked with Murphy on the series “Feud: Capote vs. The Swans.”
Joining Beatty among the main cast of the upcoming show are Vicky Krieps (“Phantom Thread”) as Bridget Sullivan, Rebecca Hall (“Onsalught”) as Abby Borden, and Charlie Hunnam (“The Ed Gein Story”) as Andrew Borden. She ended up brutally murdering her father (41 whacks with an axe) and stepmother (another 40 whacks), and spoiler alert, Borden was ultimately acquitted of the crimes; thankfully, unlike other installments in the “Monster” series, there is plenty of distance from the murders to be dramatized for entertainment.
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The official logline for “The Lizzie Borden Story,” courtesy of the fine folks over at Netflix:
When the repressed daughter of a wealthy New England family and her rebellious maid find themselves trapped in a house built on humiliation and cruelty, they escape into a fantasy of sex, power, and revenge. The gruesome unsolved murders that follow don’t just shock the world—they give birth to an icon who refuses to live imprisoned in a cage, choosing instead to forge her own legend: shocking, monstrous, and gloriously free.
“I am so excited for viewers to experience our exploration of Lizzie Borden’s story and the questions that her life animates to this day. It has been a dream come true to investigate this complicated person’s psychology and to examine an American crime that feels almost mythic in proportion. This season gives us our first female Monster and delves into female rage and repression, which I’ve found to feel strikingly relevant, and I cannot wait to share it with the world,” Beatty said in a statement posted by the streamer’s media site Tudum.
Check out those first look stills from the upcoming series below, as “Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story” is set to debut exclusively on Netflix on September 17.
