Netflix‘s Monster anthology is returning this fall with its first female “monster.”
The streamer has released the first look photos (below) and premiere date for season four of its Emmy-winning anthology series, which stars Ella Beatty (Feud: Capote vs. The Swans, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You) as Lizzie Borden. All eight episodes premiere Sept. 17 on Netflix.
Beatty stars as the accused axe murderer who was tried and acquitted in the 1892 killings of her father and stepmother in Fall River, Massachusetts. The case has inspired several retellings over the years, including the 1975 TV movie The Legend of Lizzie Borden, Lifetime’s 2014 Lizzie Borden Took an Ax and 2018’s Lizzie starring Chloë Sevigny and Kristen Stewart.
Vicky Krieps stars as Bridget Sullivan, Rebecca Hall plays Abby Borden and Charlie Hunnam portrays Andrew Borden. Billie Lourd, Joey Pollari, Sarah Paulson and Jessica Barden round out the cast.
Here’s the official logline: “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.”
Every season of Monster follows a different murderer. Season one starred Evan Peters as Jeffery Dahmer, earning him an Emmy for outstanding supporting actor in a limited or anthology series or movie. Season two followed Cooper Koch as Erik Menendez and Nicholas Alexander Chavez as Lyle Menendez, while season three starred Hunnam as Ed Gein.
The anthology has also sparked conversations over its dramatizations of real-life crimes and victims.
As for taking on the role of Borden, 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. This season gives us our first female Monster and delves into female rage and repression which I’ve found to feel strikingly relevant, and I cannot wait to share it with the world.”
Ian Brennan (Monster anthology, Glee, Scream Queens) serves as creator, writer and executive producer. Max Winkler directs all eight episodes and co-directs episodes four and six with Sarah Adina Smith. Ryan Murphy, Winkler, Eric Kovtun, Scott Robertson, Louise Shore, Nissa Diederich, Todd Kubrak, Carl Franklin, Tanase Popa also executive produce.
Oliver Spenceman as Stephen and Charlie Hunnam as Andrew Borden.
Rebecca Hall as Abby Borden.
Vicky Krieps as Bridget Sullivan.
