The teaser opens with the infamous children’s rhyme — “Lizzie Borden took an axe…” — before plunging viewers into a world of repression, simmering rage, and blood-soaked fantasy. Ella Beatty appears as Lizzie, axe in hand and face streaked with blood, signaling that this version of the story will be far from a dry historical reenactment. Charlie Hunnam delivers a chilling closing line that lands like a final blow. The tone is dark, stylish, and unapologetically intense, with the signature Murphy flair that blends psychological horror, period drama, and social commentary.
The Real Story Behind the Legend
On August 4, 1892, in Fall River, Massachusetts, Andrew Borden and his second wife Abby were found brutally murdered in their home — bludgeoned with a hatchet. Their 32-year-old daughter Lizzie quickly became the prime suspect. The case became a national sensation, complete with a highly publicized trial. An all-male jury acquitted her after just over an hour of deliberation. The murders remain officially unsolved, and Lizzie Borden has lived on in American folklore as both possible killer and cultural icon.
What the Series Promises
This is the first Monster season centered on an alleged female perpetrator. The official logline sets a bold, revisionist tone:
“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.”
Creators have described the season as exploring misogyny, gender roles, Victorian-era expectations of women, female rage, and repression. Early coverage frames it as a queer feminist retelling with darkly comic edges, modern music cues, and a Cinderella-meets-horror energy. It is being positioned as the most unapologetic and stylistically daring entry in the anthology yet.
The Cast
- Ella Beatty (Feud: Capote vs. The Swans) as Lizzie Borden
- Vicky Krieps (Phantom Thread, previous Monster season) as Bridget Sullivan, the family’s live-in maid
- Charlie Hunnam (returning after starring as Ed Gein) as Andrew Borden
- Rebecca Hall as Abby Borden, Lizzie’s stepmother
- Billie Lourd as Emma Borden, Lizzie’s older sister
- Jessica Barden as Nance O’Neil, Lizzie’s actress friend
- Joey Pollari as John Morse
- Sarah Paulson in a supporting role (reportedly as Aileen Wuornos in a framing device connecting female killers across history)
Ian Brennan created and wrote the season. Max Winkler directs the majority of the eight episodes, with Sarah Adina Smith handling two. Ryan Murphy and a team of producers executive produce.
Release Details
All eight episodes of Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story drop worldwide on Netflix on September 17, 2026.
The series follows Dahmer — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story (2022), Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story (2024), and Monster: The Ed Gein Story (2025). With its first female lead and a clear interest in power, sexuality, and myth-making, this chapter looks set to push the anthology into new, bloodier territory.
The teaser is short, sharp, and effective. It reminds us why the Lizzie Borden case has never really left the public imagination — and why Ryan Murphy’s team was the right group to turn it into the next Monster event. Mark your calendars. The axe is about to fall.
