Taglines: The legend of Lizzie Borden.
In 1892 Fall River, Massachusetts, 32-year-old Lizzie Borden resides with her domineering father, Andrew; stepmother, Abby, and elder sister, Emma. While the Borden family are prominent members of the community, Lizzie’s day-to-day life is under the strict domain of her father.
One day, an Irish immigrant, Bridget Sullivan, moves in to the Borden residence to work as a servant. That night, Lizzie attends an opera and has a seizure during the performance. After she recovers, she and Bridget quickly form a close bond as Lizzie attempts to give the illiterate Bridget a formal education.
On several occasions, the household is disrupted by trespassers and written threats, which Lizzie believes are connected to her father’s recent acquisition of land. Lizzie overhears a discussion between her father and her uncle John, the town constable and brother of Lizzie and Emma’s deceased mother; during the discussion, Andrew imparts that his estate be bestowed to Abby rather than his daughters.
The next morning, Lizzie raids Abby’s jewelry casket and hocks its contents to a local pawnbroker, staging the scene as though an intruder robbed the house. Enraged over the apparent robbery, Andrew unleashes his anger by killing Lizzie’s pet pigeons, which he has Bridget prepare for dinner. One morning, Bridget becomes distraught after receiving a letter from Ireland disclosing her mother’s death. Late that night, Lizzie finds her father sexually assaulting Bridget in the attic servants’ quarters. Lizzie smashes a hand mirror in her bedroom and sprinkles the glass on the staircase, causing Andrew to cut his feet when leaving.
Lizzie and Bridget’s bond grows increasingly close, and with Bridget able to write, the two leave letters for one another around the house. Their relationship eventually becomes romantic. One afternoon, Andrew witnesses Lizzie and Bridget engaging in sex in the barn. He confronts Lizzie about the affair the next day, and forbids her from speaking to Bridget.
That night, Lizzie burns her father’s will in the kitchen stove. The next day, August 4, Andrew and Abby’s bodies are found in the house, both bludgeoned with a hatchet. Law enforcement swiftly suspects Lizzie is responsible, though Emma proclaims her sister’s innocence. Lizzie is formally charged with both murders, and stands a closed trial. Bridget visits Lizzie in jail, and tells her she wishes never to speak to her again, before boarding a train to Montana.
A flashback shows Lizzie and Bridget’s carrying out of the murders: That morning, Lizzie strips nude and hides in Abby’s bedroom while Andrew goes for his morning walk. Bridget brings Abby a doctored telegram notifying her of a friend’s illness. When Abby rushes to her room to prepare to leave, Lizzie bludgeons her multiple times in the face and head with a hatchet.
Bridget, outside washing windows, is sickened by the sounds and vomits. Lizzie cleans herself and redresses. When Andrew returns, she tells him she is going outside to pick fruit. Meanwhile, Bridget undresses and confronts Andrew in the den, armed with a hatchet, but hesitates. Lizzie re-enters the house, and seeing Bridget’s resistance, takes the hatchet from her and kills Andrew herself. After, Lizzie butchers a pigeon with the murder weapon, smearing it with the bird’s blood before sawing off the blade and hiding it in a pail in the basement. She then burns her blood-spattered dress in the kitchen stove.
Lizzie is a 2018 American biographical thriller film directed by Craig William Macneill, written by Bryce Kass, and starring Chloë Sevigny, Kristen Stewart, Jay Huguley, Jamey Sheridan, Fiona Shaw, Kim Dickens, Denis O’Hare, and Jeff Perry. It is based on the true story of Lizzie Borden, who was accused and acquitted of the axe murders of her father and stepmother in Fall River, Massachusetts, in 1892. Sevigny also served as a co-producer.
The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 19, 2018. It was released on September 14, 2018, by Saban Films and Roadside Attractions. The film earned $47,580 during its opening weekend of September 14–16, 2018 in the United States, screening in four theaters. The film expanded to 240 screens the following week, September 21. It went on to gross a total of $642,157 in the United States.
Lizzie (2018)
Directed by: Craig William Macneill
Starring: Chloë Sevigny, Kristen Stewart, Jay Huguley, Jamey Sheridan, Fiona Shaw, Kim Dickens, Denis O’Hare, Jeff Perry, Tara Ochs, Jay Huguley, Laura Whyte, Jody Matzer
Screenplay by: Bryce Kass
Production Design by: Elizabeth J. Jones
Cinematography by: Noah Greenberg
Film Editing by: Abbi Jutkowitz
Costume Design by: Natalie O’Brien
Set Decoration by: James Edward Ferrell Jr.
Art Direction by: Nicole LeBlanc
Music by: Jeff Russo
MPAA Rating: R for violence and grisly images, nudity, a scene of sexuality and some language.
Distributed by: Saban Films, Roadside Attractions
Release Date: September 14, 2018 (United States), December 14, 2018 (United Kingdom)
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