Forty Whacks, One New Twist — Monster Season 4 Reimagines Lizzie Borden

Ryan Murphy’s true-crime anthology has tackled Dahmer, the Menendez brothers, and Ed Gein. Now it’s turning to its first female subject — and its only alleged killer who walked free. Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story is coming to Netflix, and the first look promises something stranger and bolder than fans might expect.

Monster Season 4 — Overview

What’s the Story This Season?

Set in 1892 Massachusetts, the season follows Lizzie Borden, accused of axe-murdering her father and stepmother — a crime she was ultimately acquitted of, despite its brutality cementing her place in American folklore. Unlike previous seasons’ grim realism, this installment leans into a “Ryan Murphy does Cinderella” tone, mixing Victorian-era darkness with feminist commentary and unexpectedly playful needle drops from artists like Kate Bush and Wet Leg.

Co-creator Ian Brennan told Vanity Fair the show explores how the era’s dismissive attitudes toward women shaped the case’s outcome, noting that society believed a woman was too weak to have committed the killings. The season also leans into the theory that Lizzie and live-in maid Bridget Sullivan shared a romantic relationship that fueled the murders.

A Stacked, Surprising Cast

Ella Beatty leads as Lizzie, with Vicky Krieps playing her maid and accomplice Bridget. Charlie Hunnam and Rebecca Hall play the doomed Borden parents, with Hall describing her performance as a blend of two iconic unhinged screen mothers. In a franchise-first twist, Sarah Paulson returns to the Murphy universe in a separate role, portraying real-life serial killer Aileen Wuornos — part of a broader storytelling choice to spotlight multiple infamous female killers across history.

The Lizzie Borden case remains one of America’s most enduring unsolved mysteries, and this adaptation adds a fresh, stylized lens to a story that’s fascinated true-crime audiences for over a century.

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