Ryan Murphy’s Lizzie Borden Series Will Be ‘Feminist, Lesbian, Dirty, Unapologetic’

A new season of Ryan Murphy’s true crime anthology, Monster, is right around the corner. But unlike previous seasons, this one will center around an accused female serial killer—and yes, it’s going to be gay.

Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story is the latest attempt to tackle the fascinating story of Lizzie Borden, the alleged murderess who was acquitted of killing her father and stepmother with an axe in the late 1800s.

“They literally thought that a woman was too weak to pick up an axe,” series co-creator Ian Brennan recently told Vanity Fair. “To be a woman in that period was to be almost a completely different species. You were treated like you were incapable of not only actions, but thoughts that a man was capable of.”

Murphy and Brennan’s adaptation appears to be taking a page from another recent film, 2018’s Lizzie starring Chloë Sevigny as Borden and Kristen Stewart as the family’s servant, Bridget Sullivan. In the film, the two eventually strike up a romantic relationship, which is woven into the how the murders and trial ultimately play out. 

Lizzie wasn’t the first time it was suggested Borden and Sullivan were involved with one another, and it’s a mantle Monster was all too happy to pick back up.

“It just screams Boston marriage to me and it seemed too rich to ignore. I felt like we were ethically and morally excused to take that for granted,” Brennan said. “I think it’s one of the smaller leaps that we take in the show.”

In this adaptation, Borden will be played by Ella Beatty, while Vicky Krieps will take on the role of Sullivan—portrayed as decidedly more disruptive and forward thinking than Stewart’s more timid character in Lizzie. 

“The way Ryan thought of it, she’s almost like a Mary Poppins that comes out of nowhere,” she said, “who can be anyone from any time. Ryan said, ‘It’s women-driven, feminist, lesbian, dirty, unapologetic.’ You immediately felt like a psychedelic, Courtney Love kind of vibe in the whole thing.”

Charlie Hunnam and Rebecca Hall round out the primary cast as Andrew Borden and Abby Borden, Lizzie’s father and stepfather. Billie Lourd will play Emma, Lizzie’s sister, while Jessica Barden will appear as Nancy O’Neill, a friend of Lizzie’s.

The season is currently scheduled to hit Netflix on September 17.