Less than a week after the premiere of “Monster: The Ed Gein Story,” work has started on the fourth season of the Netflix original. The Lizzie Borden installment on “Monster” began production on Thursday in Los Angeles.
Netflix announced the news with a handoff photo that featured Charlie Hunnam, who plays Ed Gein in Season 3, and Ella Beatty, who will play Lizzie Borden in the upcoming season.
Beatty is best known for her work in “Feud: Capote vs. The Swans” and “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You.” She will be joined by Hunnam (“Sons of Anarchy”), who will play Lizzie’s father Andrew Borden, and Rebecca Hall (“Christine”), who will play her mother Abby Borden. Additionally, Vicky Krieps (“Phantom Thread”) will play Bridget Sullivan, the family’s 25-year-old live-in maid; Billie Lourd (“American Horror Story,” “The Last Showgirl”) will play Emma Borden, Lizzie’s older sister; and Jessica Barden (“The End of the F***ing World,” “Dune: Prophecy”) will play Nance O’Neill, an actress who was close with Lizzie.
If you need a refresher on this case that inspired at least one children’s song, the Borden story focuses on the murders of Andrew and Abby Borden. In August of 1892, the married couple was found dead in their homes after someone attacked them repeatedly with a hatchet. Both the couple’s second child Lizzie and their live-in maid were in the house at the time of the murders, meaning if they were orchestrated by an outsider, that person would have had to killed both Andrew and Abby with an unbelievable amount of speed. However, it’s commonly believed that Lizzie was responsible for the deaths of her parents.
Borden was tried and acquitted for the murders in 1893. No one else was charged for these crimes. The Massachusetts case became a national source of fascination, setting the stage for other all-encompassing true crime stories in America, like the O.J. Simpson case and the Menendez brothers. Based on other seasons of “Monster,” it’s that cultural impact that will likely be explored in depth.
The first season of “Monster,” which focused on Jeffrey Dahmer, premiered in 2022 and quickly became one of Netflix’s most-watched English-language originals. The series secured 1 billion viewing hours in its first 60 days and is No. 4 on Netflix’s Most Popular Shows list. That installment was also critically acclaimed, receiving 13 Emmy nominations and a win for Niecy Nash-Betts.
That was followed by 2024’s Menendez season. That installment was also nominated for 11 Emmys, winning one for Outstanding Picture Editing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie. As for the Ed Gein season, the series secured 12.2 million views globally in its first three days, reaching the No. 1 spot 1 in 11 countries.
