Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story Haunts Netflix With Eight Episodes

Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan's Monster anthology has found its most infamous subject yet. Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story, the fourth season of the series, released all eight episodes on Netflix on September 17 — and it is the first time the "Monster" title has gone to a woman.

The Cast

Ella Beatty stars as Lizzie Borden, with Charlie Hunnam playing her father Andrew Borden — fresh off playing Ed Gein in Season 3, making Hunnam the anthology's first repeat lead in back-to-back seasons. The cast also includes Rebecca Hall as Abby Borden, Vicky Krieps as maid Bridget "Maggie" Sullivan, Billie Lourd as Emma Borden, and Sarah Paulson appearing as Aileen Wuornos in scenes set decades later — a fascinating bridge between two of America's most notorious true-crime figures.

A Deliberate Shift

The move is a deliberate one. After three seasons built around male subjects, putting Lizzie Borden's name in the title reframes the anthology's central question — what makes a monster — through a very different lens. The Borden legend is one of America's most enduring true-crime stories, and it is tailor-made for the Monster treatment: a household name, a sensational trial, and a cultural footprint that has lasted more than a century.

A Viral Debut

Beatty told Elle of the whirlwind around the release: "The experience of the last week or so has been really wild." It's become one of Netflix's most talked-about releases since its debut — hardly surprising, given the anthology's track record of turning each season into a cultural flashpoint. Whether Season 4 can match the footprint of its predecessors remains to be seen, but the early conversation suggests Murphy and Brennan have another watercooler season on their hands. All eight episodes are streaming now on Netflix.

The Anthology's Winning Formula

Love it or loathe it, nobody does the true-crime watercooler moment like this anthology. Each Monster season has followed the same playbook: take a case the culture thinks it already knows, cast it impeccably, and let the discourse do the marketing. Season 4 executes the formula with a twist — Hunnam returning in back-to-back seasons as a different Borden, Paulson's Wuornos bridging two eras of American crime, and a first-time female subject for the "Monster" title. It's become one of Netflix's most talked-about releases since its debut, and if history is any guide, the conversation is only getting started.

And with Sarah Paulson — an anthology veteran — stepping in as Aileen Wuornos in scenes set decades later, Season 4 is explicitly in conversation with the true-crime canon that came before it. The Borden case has fascinated America for well over a century; this is simply its biggest stage yet.