What we know so far about Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story The Netflix anthology series is dedicated to its first female protagonist

Even women know how to be monstrous. In the fourth season of the anthology series Monster, Ryan Murphy chose as the protagonist Lizzie Borden, a controversial murderer who lived at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, accused of killing his father Andrew Borden and his stepmother Abby Borden with an axe.

The Lizzie Borden Story, streaming on Netflix

However, there is a new nuance that the fourth season of Monster takes on compared to the previous ones, which explored the lives and crimes of Jeffrey Dahmer, Erik and Lyle Menendez and Ed Gein. Lizzie Borden was a young woman from a good American family who, despite her father's wealth, lived succubus to his stubbornness. A wealthy man who considered it useless to have a house with a bathroom or running water, making the young woman live together with her sister in tight conditions, which would later cause Lizzie's bloody reaction and that we see her doing in the series.

So this time there is no evidence of an evil nature or of some unspeakable perversion, but it almost seems that what Lizzie adopted was the solution to break the chains of what was considered a prison. A way, as was expressed by some during the trial that followed the murders, to appropriate the parent's fortune and finally be able to free himself. What then actually happened, since Borden was declared innocent, dying as a rich woman years later and leaving her legacy to friends, relatives and a league in defense of animals.

From September 17 on Netflix, the return of Ryan Murphy

As usual, it is not clear what and how much connection there will be between the subject of Monster: The Story of Lizzie Borden and what we know and/or actually happened, with parts of this story still shrouded in doubt. Also because, always judging by the trailer released by Netflix, the platform on which the series will arrive from September 17, Ryan Murphy's hand seems to be more than evident, with the story seasoned with an evil and sensual touch that would explore the protagonist's sexuality and in which his ruler will play a central role. Even the setting seems slightly different, more sumptuous than the way the woman was in before the death of her relatives is described.

The cast of Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story

Moving on to the cast, Lizzie Borden is played by Ella Beatty, daughter of Warren Beaty and Annette Bening, who in Ryan Murphy's universe had already played a role in the series Feud: Capote vs. The Swans in 2024. Next to her, recurring faces appear in the ranks of the American author's productions, starting with Charlie Hunnam who played Ed Gein in the third season of Monster in 2025, as well as Vicky Krieps in the role of the governess Bridget Sullivan. Also returning is Rebecca Hall, who worked with Murphy in 2026 for The Beauty on Disney. Unmissable is Sarah Paulson, an icon of creative productions. At the direction of Monster: The Story of Lizzie Borden are then Max Winkler and Sarah Adina Smith, while the scripts for the eight episodes were written by Ian Brennan, co-creator of the show, together with Ryan Murphy himself.