If you want better tonal consistency
Choose The Seduction. It scores 5.0 vs 2.9 for tonal consistency, with a 4.0 overall score.
Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story Review
Bottom Line
Choose it for bold performances, gothic period style, and unapologetic camp. Skip it if you want a historically grounded Borden retelling or a restrained eight-episode drama; several reviewers found the inventions, gore, and detours excessive.
Best for
Best for viewers who enjoy performance-driven gothic melodrama, dark camp, bold visual style, and speculative true-crime retellings that prioritize mood over strict history.
Not for
Not for viewers seeking a careful historical reconstruction, subtle treatment of female rage, or a tightly paced season focused only on the Borden case.
Verdict
Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story earns its strongest notices for performance and presentation. Rebecca Hall and Sarah Paulson are repeatedly singled out, while Ella Beatty and Vicky Krieps also draw substantial praise; reviewers likewise respond to the ornate production design, vivid period textures, sound work, and adventurous soundtrack. The central tradeoff is historical credibility. Many sources object to invented relationships, altered events, the Aileen Wuornos detour, and a tendency to turn an unresolved case into blood-soaked feminist melodrama. That same excess is exactly what some reviewers enjoy, finding the season energetic, funny, gothic, and highly watchable. The result is a sharply mixed season: visually confident and strongly acted, but often criticized as overlong, tonally unstable, and far removed from the known record.
Feature Scorecards
Summary
53 reviewed features-
Very positive 4.5-5.018 (34%)
-
Positive 3.5-4.49 (17%)
-
Neutral 2.5-3.410 (19%)
-
Negative 1.5-2.415 (28%)
-
Very negative below 1.51 (2%)
Pros highlights
-
Acting is the clearest consensus strength. Multiple reviews praised the cast as excellent or able to sell the heightened material, though a few felt the writing limited what performers could do.
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Entertainment value is polarized: some found it energetic, highly watchable, and blood-splattered fun, while one reviewer quit after two episodes.
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Character work is uneven. Some reviews praised the human stakes and Bridget's complexity, while others felt major figures were thin or unrealistically written.
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Ornate interiors, haunted textures, and convincing period presentation earned strong praise across several reviews.
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The cross-era, female-killer framing struck several reviewers as fresh and unusual, with one calling the project unique on television.
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Period presentation is mixed: some reviewers found the details and production unusually authentic, while another felt the Massachusetts setting barely registered.
Cons highlights
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Historical faithfulness is the most consistent weakness. Reviews repeatedly faulted fabricated relationships, altered events, and major liberties with an unresolved case.
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The gore is similarly divisive. Several critics found it lurid, fetishistic, or unnecessary, while another embraced the blood-soaked excess as part of the fun.
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Tone is one of the show's biggest fault lines: some praise the fun, weird blend, while others find the camp, sensationalism, and detours disjointed.
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The themes are highly divisive. Some reviewers saw a distinctive exploration of repression and female rage; others called the treatment superficial or unsatisfying.
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Sexual content drew some of the strongest disagreement: critics often saw fetishistic or misplaced sexualization, while one reviewer enjoyed its bold directness.
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Story reactions split sharply: some found the retelling interesting and absorbing, while others called it directionless, over-invented, or a disservice to the real case.
Cast & Creators
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Aileen WuornosPaulson receives some of the season's strongest praise for her committed Aileen Wuornos, though one review says the performance adds little new despite that commitment.
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Abby BordenHall is one of the strongest points of agreement, repeatedly described as a scene-stealer and top performer even when one review faults the material for limiting her character.
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Elizabeth BáthoryKrieps is widely praised as Bridget, including 'superb' notices, while one review is much cooler on her Elizabeth Báthory performance.
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Lizzie BordenBeatty is often praised as engaging and capable of carrying the story, though some reviewers find her blankness hard to read or her range limited.
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EmmaLourd is part of an ensemble praised for understanding the show's heightened register, and another article includes her in an explicitly impressive cast.
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Andrew BordenHunnam draws mixed notices: one review praises the ensemble's heightened-register work, another calls him understated, and a third says the writing leaves his character underdeveloped.
Compared With Category Average
Compared with other TV Shows, this product is above average in makeup quality, originality, villain quality, near average in acting performance, character development, below average in faithfulness to source material, educational value, realism.
Comparison summary
53 compared features-
Above average 0.4+ pts higher13 (25%)
-
Same as average within 0.3 pts10 (19%)
-
Below average 0.4+ pts lower30 (57%)
Largest category differences
| Attribute | This product | Category average | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| faithfulness to source material | 1.7 | 3.8 | -2.2 |
| educational value | 2.0 | 4.2 | -2.2 |
| realism | 1.4 | 3.3 | -1.9 |
| episode pacing | 1.5 | 3.4 | -1.9 |
| writing quality | 1.8 | 3.4 | -1.7 |
| character appeal | 2.0 | 3.7 | -1.7 |
| ending satisfaction | 2.0 | 3.5 | -1.5 |
| media scrutiny portrayal | 2.5 | 4.0 | -1.5 |
Consider This Instead
If you want better realism
Choose East of Eden. It scores 5.0 vs 1.4 for realism, with a 4.1 overall score.
If you want better season length
Choose War. It scores 5.0 vs 1.7 for season length, with a 4.3 overall score.
If you want better accent authenticity
Choose The Beast In Me. It scores 5.0 vs 1.5 for accent authenticity, with a 3.8 overall score.
Compared in Reviews
Products reviewers directly compared with this model, grouped into quick takeaways.
2003 film Monster
- Compared: Sarah Paulson's Aileen Wuornos performance Sarah Paulson's Aileen Wuornos performance is favorably compared with Charlize Theron's Oscar-winning turn in the 2003 film Monster.
American horror story
- Similar: fictionalized storytelling style The reviewer says the season increasingly resembles American horror story as the Monster franchise becomes more fictionalized.
FAQ
Is Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story historically accurate?
Reviewers repeatedly say no. The season uses the real case as a starting point but invents relationships, changes events, and takes major liberties with unresolved history.
What do reviewers like most about the season?
Acting and presentation lead the praise, especially the performances, period production design, visual texture, sound work, and some of the music choices.
How are the performances?
The cast is the clearest strength. Rebecca Hall and Sarah Paulson receive especially strong praise, while Ella Beatty and Vicky Krieps are also frequently highlighted.
Is the series very graphic?
Yes, and reactions are split. Several reviewers criticize the gore and sexual material as excessive or fetishistic, while others enjoy the deliberately lurid, blood-soaked style.
Does the Aileen Wuornos storyline work?
Opinions are divided. Some call the detour refreshing or narratively expansive, while others find it heavy-handed and distracting from the stronger Borden-family story.
Is the eight-episode season well paced?
Several reviewers think it is too long, citing filler, side stories, and tonal detours. Others still find the show highly watchable or bingeable despite the sprawl.
Sample Expert Reviews We Analyzed
These are a few of the reviews included in our analysis.
Video Reviews
YouTube - Heavy Spoilers
- Review score
- 3.5
YouTube - Media Melanie TV
- Review score
- 1.7
Article Reviews
heraldnews.com
What did Netflix's 'Monster' get right about real Lizzie Borden history, and what did it get wrong? Let's fact-check this wild comic fantasy.
- Review score
- 1.3
hollywoodreporter.com
Brennan peels back the curtain into his and Ryan Murphy's 'Monster' selection process, how they landed on the infamous female axe murderer...
- Review score
- 4.7
hellomagazine.com
Ryan Murphy's new crime drama, Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story, has finally arrived on Netflix – and viewers are binge-watching all eight...
- Review score
- 4.3
sundayguardianlive.com
Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story reimagines the infamous 1892 murder case through Ella Beatty’s haunting performance. Ryan Murphy and Ian...
- Review score
- 4.4
avclub.com
Ryan Murphy's over-the-top true crime saga returns for another ludicrous season, led by Ella Beatty as a supposed axe murderer.
- Review score
- 1.9
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