Netflix has released the full trailer for Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story, giving us our best look yet at Ella Beatty as Lizzie Borden in the fourth instalment of Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan’s true-crime anthology. The new season arrives on Netflix on 17 September 2026, with Charlie Hunnam, Rebecca Hall, Vicky Krieps and Sarah Paulson among the cast.
And this is quite a trailer. Blood, axes, family secrets and plenty of theatrics are packed into the first proper look at the season, which explores the infamous 1892 murders of Lizzie’s father and stepmother and the question that has followed Borden for more than a century: did she actually do it?
When Is Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story Released?
Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story will be released globally on Netflix on Thursday, 17 September 2026. It is the fourth instalment of Monster, following seasons centred on Jeffrey Dahmer, Lyle and Erik Menendez and Ed Gein. Netflix has not yet confirmed the episode count for The Lizzie Borden Story.
What Is Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story About?
The new season centres on Lizzie Borden, who was accused of murdering her father Andrew and stepmother Abby with an axe in Fall River, Massachusetts, in 1892. She was later acquitted, and the murders remain unsolved. Netflix’s version presents Lizzie as a young woman trapped within a wealthy but deeply controlling New England household. Her relationship with the family’s maid, Bridget “Maggie” Sullivan, becomes increasingly important as resentment towards her parents grows.
The official synopsis describes Lizzie and Maggie as two women trapped inside a home built around humiliation and cruelty, eventually escaping into fantasies of sex, power and revenge before the murders turn Lizzie into one of history’s most infamous figures. As Maggie declares at the beginning of the trailer: “Blood is power. Blood is freedom.” Later, she tells Lizzie that her parents and the way they treat her mean “they deserve it”, as the trailer moves ever closer to the murders themselves.
Who Plays Lizzie Borden in Netflix’s Monster?
Ella Beatty stars as Lizzie Borden, making her the first female central figure in the Monster anthology. Beatty has spoken about researching the real case extensively, but has also stressed that the series is presenting a fictionalised interpretation of Borden rather than claiming to provide a definitive account of what happened.
Charlie Hunnam plays Lizzie’s father, Andrew Borden, with Rebecca Hall as her stepmother, Abby Borden. Vicky Krieps plays Bridget “Maggie” Sullivan, the Borden family maid whose relationship with Lizzie forms an important part of this version of the story.
Is Sarah Paulson in Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story?
Yes, and Netflix saves her appearance for one of the trailer’s biggest surprises. Sarah Paulson plays Aileen Wuornos, the serial killer convicted of murdering men in Florida between 1989 and 1990. Her story takes place almost a century after Borden’s, but the series uses Wuornos to explore Lizzie’s lasting place in discussions around female violence and criminal notoriety.
Paulson appears right at the end of the trailer when someone says that nobody really knows what happened on the day of the Borden murders. Wuornos has a rather different opinion.
Is Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story Based on a True Story?
Yes, but viewers should expect plenty of dramatisation. Lizzie Borden was a real woman who went on trial for the murders of her father and stepmother in 1892. She was acquitted, and no one else was ever convicted of the killings. That uncertainty gives the series plenty of room to interpret Lizzie’s character, relationships and possible motivations. Beatty has described the role as a fictionalised version built using elements of the real woman’s life rather than a definitive reconstruction of events.
The season also continues one of Monster’s recurring questions by looking at what might push somebody towards extreme violence and how society turns certain criminal figures into cultural legends.
Is There a Trailer for Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story?
Yes. Netflix released the full trailer on 20 August, and it does not hold back. There is blood spatter across Lizzie’s face, increasingly sinister conversations between her and Maggie and glimpses of the violence that will eventually define the Borden story. At one point, the possibilities for committing the murders appear to narrow from a knife or gun towards the weapon history now associates most closely with Lizzie: the axe.
Beatty has revealed that the production used several different methods to create the blood effects, including hand-painting it onto her and using rigs that sent fake blood flying whenever the axe struck… And then, just when you think the trailer has shown everything, Sarah Paulson appears.
Have a look at the trailer below.
For CultureCues, wow, what a trailer. The blood spatter, the heightened theatricality and Ella Beatty’s performance already make this look like a fascinating take on such a notorious story. Then Sarah Paulson appearing at the very end as Aileen Wuornos gave us one final surprise. Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story was already on our radar, but this has pushed it right to the top of our September watchlist. We cannot wait to see what Beatty does with Lizzie.
Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story arrives on Netflix on 17 September 2026.
Nikki Murray is a UK-based writer, screenwriter and founder & editor of CultureCues, covering film, television, music and pop culture. Her work focuses on storytelling and the moments shaping modern entertainment.