‘Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story’: Release Date, Plot, Cast and Everything Else You Need to Know About the New Netflix Title

Ryan Murphy’s true-crime anthology machine shows no signs of slowing down, and its next chapter may be the most compelling yet. ‘Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story‘ will release all eight episodes on Netflix on September 17th, landing squarely in spooky season and continuing a franchise that has become one of streaming’s most-watched properties.

This fourth installment marks a significant creative pivot for the series. Following seasons dedicated to Jeffrey Dahmer, the Menendez Brothers, and Ed Gein, ‘Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story’ introduces the franchise’s first female alleged perpetrator, a distinction that has already generated considerable buzz across fan communities and true crime circles alike.

The Real Story Behind the ‘Monster’ Anthology’s First Female Perpetrator

The case at the center of the new season is the infamous double homicide of August 4, 1892, one of the most shocking and tantalizing unsolved crimes in American history. The murders took place in Fall River, Massachusetts, inside the home of a wealthy New England family, and the accused was the last person anyone expected.

Lizzie Borden was a Sunday school teacher in Fall River, accused of striking her father Andrew and stepmother Abby with an axe inside their family home. What followed was a trial that gripped the nation and produced a verdict that stunned many observers.

While Lizzie was acquitted after an all-white male jury found her not guilty, she remains the only suspect in the unsolved double homicide. More than a century later, the case has never been officially resolved, and that enduring mystery is precisely what makes it such fertile ground for Murphy’s anthology treatment.

A Star-Studded Cast Brings the Borden Household to Life

The eight-episode season stars Ella Beatty as Lizzie Borden, the daughter of legendary Hollywood stars Warren Beatty and Annette Bening. Beatty brings significant pedigree to the role, having previously appeared in Murphy’s own ‘Feud: Capote vs. The Swans’, making this a reunion of sorts between actor and creator.

Joining Beatty as the maid Bridget Sullivan is Vicky Krieps, described as Lizzie’s punk-inspired accomplice and Fairy Godmother figure. The doomed Borden parents are portrayed by Charlie Hunnam as wealthy businessman Andrew Borden and Rebecca Hall as stepmother Abby Borden. Hunnam’s casting is particularly notable given that he is returning to the Murphy universe having played Ed Gein in the previous season.

Billie Lourd plays Emma Borden, Lizzie’s older sister, while Jessica Barden portrays Nance O’Neil, an actor friend of Lizzie’s. Sarah Paulson appears as Aileen Wuornos, a nineties serial killer, and Joey Pollari appears in an undisclosed role. The presence of Wuornos as a character suggests the season will weave across multiple timelines, a structural device the franchise used previously in ‘Monster: The Ed Gein Story’.

The Official Plot and What Audiences Can Expect

The official synopsis describes the series as follows: 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 do not just shock the world, but 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.

That framing, centered on feminine rebellion and the mythology of the accused rather than simply on the crime itself, sets this installment apart from its predecessors in tone and focus.

The new season takes the franchise in a bold, darkly comic new direction, blending period drama elements with a more stylized sensibility that Murphy has become known for across his wider television work.

Ella Beatty on Playing Lizzie Borden

Breaking into a role of this magnitude requires a certain fearlessness, and Beatty has spoken openly about what drew her to this particular story. Beatty told Tudum: “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.”

Beatty also noted that this season delves into female rage and repression, which she described as feeling strikingly relevant, adding that she cannot wait to share it with the world. Those themes of repression and rage have resonated particularly with audiences who have followed Murphy’s work across ‘American Horror Story’ and ‘Feud’, where he has consistently explored women trapped by the social expectations of their era.

The broader franchise context adds further weight to the new season’s ambitions. The second installment of ‘Monster’, which centered on the Menendez brothers, received eleven nominations at the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards, raising the stakes considerably for what audiences and critics will now expect from this fourth chapter.

Whether Ella Beatty can take the Borden axe and carve out an awards season run of her own is the question most viewers will be asking come September 17, so share your thoughts below on whether you think ‘Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story’ has what it takes to top the franchise’s previous chapters.