Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story Netflix Cast and Character Guide

Netflix is returning to one of America’s most debated unsolved crimes in Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story, the fourth season of Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan’s true-crime anthology. Ella Beatty plays Lizzie Borden, the Massachusetts woman who was charged with killing her father and stepmother in 1892 and later acquitted. The confirmed Monster Lizzie Borden cast also includes Charlie Hunnam, Vicky Krieps, Rebecca Hall, Billie Lourd and Jessica Barden.

The new season is scheduled to arrive on Netflix on September 17, 2026. It will contain eight episodes and will present the Borden case as a stylized period drama about repression, power, class, desire and revenge. Because the real murders were never solved, viewers should expect the series to combine documented events with interpretation and fictionalized possibilities rather than provide a definitive answer.

Ella Beatty as Lizzie Borden

Ella Beatty leads The Lizzie Borden Story Netflix cast as Lizzie Borden. The real Lizzie was 32 when Andrew and Abby Borden were killed inside the family home in Fall River, Massachusetts. She became the main suspect, was arrested one week later and faced a nationally followed trial in 1893. A jury found her not guilty, and no other person was ever charged.

Beatty previously appeared in Ryan Murphy’s Feud: Capote vs. The Swans and in the film If I Had Legs I’d Kick You. This is her first major television lead, and the role requires her to balance two versions of Lizzie: the documented historical figure and the cultural legend that formed around the case. Netflix’s early material presents Lizzie as a sheltered woman living under rigid family control who begins to imagine a different, more dangerous kind of freedom.

The attached keyword sheet shows strong interest in both “Ella Beatty” and “monster Lizzie Borden Netflix,” which makes her section the central search focus of the article. Her performance is also important because this is the first Monster season built around a female subject.

Vicky Krieps as Bridget Sullivan

Vicky Krieps plays Bridget Sullivan, the live-in maid who was present at the Borden home on the day of the murders. In the historical record, Sullivan was an important witness. She testified about the family’s movements, the atmosphere inside the house and the moment Andrew Borden’s body was discovered.

Krieps is known for Phantom Thread, Corsage and her appearance in Monster: The Ed Gein Story. Her casting gives the season another link to the previous Monster installment while placing an experienced period-drama performer opposite Beatty.

Charlie Hunnam as Andrew Borden

Charlie Hunnam plays Andrew Borden, Lizzie and Emma’s wealthy father. Andrew was a successful businessman and property owner, but accounts of the family describe a household shaped by strictness, frugality and conflict over money. His decisions about property and inheritance have long been discussed as possible sources of tension, although motive alone does not establish who committed the murders.

Hunnam returns immediately after leading Monster: The Ed Gein Story. He is best known for Sons of Anarchy, The Gentlemen, Pacific Rim and Shantaram. The new role is notably different from Ed Gein: Andrew is not the season’s accused figure, but a family patriarch whose control and choices help define the pressure inside the Borden home.

Search interest for “Charlie Hunnam” is marked as breakout in the supplied sheet, so his return is likely to be one of the strongest discovery points for the article. Netflix’s first-look images show Hunnam in formal period clothing and position Andrew as a key figure in the family drama before the murders.

Rebecca Hall as Abby Borden

Rebecca Hall plays Abby Borden, Andrew’s second wife and Lizzie’s stepmother. Abby was killed before Andrew on the morning of August 4, 1892. Her relationship with Lizzie and Emma was reportedly strained, particularly around family property and the sisters’ belief that their father favored Abby’s relatives.

Hall’s first-look portrayal suggests that Abby will be more than a distant victim in the series. The show appears ready to present her as an active, difficult presence within the household, which could intensify the season’s darkly comic and gothic tone. Hall is known for Passing, Christine, The Prestige and The Night House, making her a strong fit for a psychologically complicated period role.

Billie Lourd as Emma Borden

Billie Lourd plays Emma Borden, Lizzie’s older sister. Emma was away from Fall River when Andrew and Abby were killed, but she remained closely connected to Lizzie during the investigation and trial. After the acquittal, the sisters purchased a large house together and lived there for years before their relationship eventually broke down.

Lourd has worked repeatedly with Ryan Murphy through American Horror Story and American Horror Stories. Her experience with heightened horror, family secrets and dark humor should help the series explore Emma as more than a background relative. She may become the audience’s view into the loyalty, resentment and uncertainty surrounding Lizzie.

Jessica Barden as Nance O’Neil

Jessica Barden plays Nance O’Neil, a stage actor and friend of Lizzie Borden. O’Neil was a real performer whose friendship with Lizzie became a source of gossip and reportedly contributed to the widening distance between Lizzie and Emma later in life.

The series can use Nance to show what happened after the trial, when Lizzie had money and freedom but remained socially marked by the accusations. Barden is best known for The End of the F***ing World and Dune: Prophecy. Her sharp, unconventional screen presence makes her a natural choice for a character connected to Lizzie’s attempt to build a new identity.

Sarah Paulson as Aileen Wuornos

Sarah Paulson is reported to appear as Aileen Wuornos, the Florida serial killer convicted of murdering seven men between 1989 and 1990. Wuornos lived nearly a century after the Borden murders, so she is not part of Lizzie’s direct historical story. Her appearance is expected to connect Lizzie to the wider cultural history of women labeled as monsters.

Paulson is one of Ryan Murphy’s most frequent collaborators and has led projects including Ratched, American Horror Story and The People v. O. J. Simpson. Netflix has not yet placed her on the short main-cast list on Tudum, but Entertainment Weekly and Vanity Fair have both reported the role. It is therefore best described as a special appearance rather than a central Borden-family role.

What Is Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story About?

The Netflix season follows a repressed daughter and a rebellious household maid who feel trapped inside a wealthy New England home defined by humiliation and cruelty. Their search for escape develops into a story of desire, power and revenge, followed by the murders that transform Lizzie Borden into an American legend.

That premise makes the season more than a courtroom reconstruction. It appears designed as a gothic psychological drama about how society viewed women in the late nineteenth century and how the public turned an acquitted suspect into a permanent symbol of violence. The first-look coverage also describes a darkly comic approach, modern music choices and deliberate creative liberties.

Anyone watching for the true story should keep one legal fact clear: Lizzie Borden was acquitted. The murders of Andrew and Abby Borden remain officially unsolved. The series may present a theory or emotional interpretation, but it cannot be treated as proof of what happened inside the house.

How Accurate Will the Netflix Series Be?

The broad framework is historical. Andrew and Abby Borden were killed in Fall River on August 4, 1892. Lizzie was arrested on August 11, went on trial in June 1893 and was acquitted on June 20. Emma Borden, Bridget Sullivan and Nance O’Neil were real people connected to Lizzie’s life.

The motives, private conversations and relationship between Lizzie and Bridget are much less certain. Early coverage indicates that Monster will dramatize a sexual relationship and possible conspiracy between them. Similar theories have appeared in books and earlier screen adaptations, but they are not confirmed by the historical record. The most responsible way to read the season is as a creative interpretation built around a genuine unsolved case.

When Does The Lizzie Borden Story Come Out on Netflix?

Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story premieres on Netflix on September 17, 2026. The season contains eight episodes. Netflix released the first official photos on August 4, showing Ella Beatty as Lizzie, Charlie Hunnam as Andrew, Rebecca Hall as Abby and Vicky Krieps as Bridget. At the time this article was prepared, the official Tudum page focused on the first-look images and had not linked a full trailer.

Why the Monster Lizzie Borden Cast Stands Out

The cast combines a relatively new lead with performers who are already closely associated with intense drama and Ryan Murphy projects. Ella Beatty has the difficult task of carrying the season without reducing Lizzie to either an innocent victim or a confirmed killer. Vicky Krieps and Rebecca Hall bring strong period-drama experience, while Billie Lourd and Sarah Paulson understand Murphy’s heightened tone. Charlie Hunnam’s return also gives the anthology a visible bridge between the Ed Gein and Lizzie Borden seasons.

This balance may be the season’s biggest strength. The case is familiar, but the casting allows Netflix to explore the people around Lizzie as full characters rather than names in a nursery rhyme. The best performances will likely come from the tension between what history records, what the characters believe and what the series chooses to imagine.

More Netflix Crime and Cast Guides

While waiting for the September premiere, readers interested in Netflix crime stories can explore the American Nightmare Netflix true story, the case examined in The Perfect Wife documentary and the medical true-crime series covered in our Bad Surgeon Netflix review.

For more ensemble guides, see the Bodies cast and the Sleeping Dog Netflix cast. Both series also use murder investigations and buried secrets to build suspense, although their stories are fictional.