> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.blankidentity.com.au/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story Explained: True Story, Cast and Why It's Still Netflix's Biggest Show - URL: https://www.blankidentity.com.au/monster-the-lizzie-borden-story-explained-true-story-cast-and-why-its-still-netflixs-biggest-show/ - Published: 2026-10-01T01:17:23.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-01T01:53:20.000Z - Description: Netflix's Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story is still dominating the charts two weeks in. The real history, the full cast, and why critics and audiences disagree. - Author: Sian L - Tags: Entertainment Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story has been sitting near the top of Netflix's global charts for two weeks straight, and it is still one of the most searched shows on the platform. The fourth season of Ryan Murphy's true crime anthology reopens the 1892 axe murders in Fall River, Massachusetts, and it has split critics almost exactly down the middle while pulling in a huge audience anyway. Here is what it actually gets right, what it invents, and who is playing who. ## The story it's telling The season centres on Lizzie Borden's relationship with her family's housemaid, Bridget "Maggie" Sullivan, in the lead-up to the murders of Andrew and Abby Borden. Ella Beatty plays Lizzie, with Vicky Krieps as Sullivan, Charlie Hunnam as Andrew Borden and Rebecca Hall as Abby Borden. The eight-episode season, which premiered on 17 September 2026, threads the historical case together with parallel storylines involving other real figures, including Elizabeth Bathory and Aileen Wuornos, played by Sarah Paulson. ![Ella Beatty, who plays Lizzie Borden in Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story](https://media.themoviedb.org/t/p/w780/9fgrmNc5DZjQDhnST5HVmo6yrgh.jpg) Ella Beatty stars as Lizzie Borden in the fourth season of Netflix's Monster anthology. Image: TMDB ## A stacked cast built around one house Most of the season plays out inside the Borden household, which puts a lot of weight on the four leads. Charlie Hunnam's Andrew Borden is written as controlling and tight-fisted, a portrayal that lines up with most historical accounts of the real Andrew Borden. Rebecca Hall's Abby Borden gets more interiority than she is usually given in retellings of the case, and the season spends real time on the class tension between Abby and Lizzie's late mother's side of the family. The supporting cast includes Jessica Barden, Joey Pollari and Billie Lourd. ![Charlie Hunnam, who plays Andrew Borden in Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story](https://media.themoviedb.org/t/p/w780/5WIDrnY25Ps2RYu0zIzHSVuSt5n.jpg) Charlie Hunnam plays Andrew Borden, whose 1892 murder alongside his wife anchors the season. Image: TMDB ![Rebecca Hall, who plays Abby Borden in Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story](https://media.themoviedb.org/t/p/w780/coC58ANiDbqRIyle5zEl9QDektf.jpg) Rebecca Hall plays Abby Borden, given more interiority here than most retellings of the case allow her. Image: TMDB ## How much of it is true Less than you'd assume from how confidently it's shot. The real Lizzie Borden was tried and acquitted for the murders in 1893, and the case has never been officially solved, which gives a scripted retelling a lot of room to invent motive and interiority that the historical record simply doesn't support. The show leans into that gap hard, particularly in how it frames Lizzie and Bridget Sullivan's relationship, and in the way it weaves in Elizabeth Bathory and Aileen Wuornos as connective tissue across the Monster anthology's timeline. Treat it as a stylised thriller inspired by the case rather than a documentary account of it. ## Why critics are split and audiences aren't Reviews have landed in the mid-to-low range, with Rotten Tomatoes sitting at 39 per cent and Metacritic at 47, and the main criticism is exactly the historical-liberty problem above: strong performances and production design undercut by how loosely it treats the actual case. None of that has dented the numbers. It pulled roughly 14.5 million views in its second week according to What's on Netflix, and it is still the most talked-about title on the platform's true crime slate, even if that figure trails the anthology's Menendez season by about 15 per cent. Sarah Paulson's turn as Aileen Wuornos has been singled out by multiple reviewers as the standout of the ensemble, reportedly reducing the episode's director to tears on set. ![Sarah Paulson, who plays Aileen Wuornos in Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story](https://media.themoviedb.org/t/p/w780/tJnhBV516yrekR3hTDUw15UMbxS.jpg) Sarah Paulson's turn as Aileen Wuornos has been singled out as the standout of the ensemble. Image: TMDB ## Should you watch it If you want a handsomely made period thriller with strong lead performances and don't mind the show taking real liberties with a 130-year-old unsolved case, it earns its spot on the chart. If historical accuracy matters to you more than atmosphere, read up on the real Borden case separately and watch this purely as fiction inspired by it. Either way, it is going to keep dominating conversation for a few more weeks yet, and Australian audiences can stream all eight episodes now on Netflix. **At a glance:** - Series: Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story, season 4 of the Monster anthology - Premiered: 17 September 2026, 8 episodes - Cast: Ella Beatty, Vicky Krieps, Charlie Hunnam, Rebecca Hall, Sarah Paulson - Critical scores: 39% Rotten Tomatoes, 47 Metacritic - Audience: approximately 14.5 million views in its second week (What's on Netflix) **Verdict:** Strong performances, real historical liberties. Watch it as a stylised thriller, not a history lesson.