Quiet Dread Informs The Gruesome Violence In Lizzie

All these years later, we still don't know what exactly happened with the murder of Lizzie Borden's father and stepmother. That was perhaps the most surprising thing I learned while doing research on this topic after watching Lizzie, a feature film take on a segment of the life of Lizzie Borden, these murders are still shrouded in so much mystery, with many suspecting that Borden is the one responsible for them. The interpretation of how these events went down in Lizzie seem to be taking an inspiration from theories posited by Ed McBain that Borden killed these two in retaliation for, among other cruelties, Borden's father discovering that she's engaging in a romantic relationship with the families female housemaid.


Before those grisly events transpire though, the Borden household is rife with tension. Lizzie Borden (Chloe Sevigny) does not fit the dehumanizing definition of a "proper lady" that her father, Andrew Borden (Jamey Sheridan), foists upon her. Just her small individual desires like wanting to go out to see a play alone or things beyond her control like her occasional seizures are especially enraging her father and the two of them are constantly at each other's throats as a result. The arrival of a new housemaid by the name of Bridgett Sullivan (Kristen Stewart) does improve things considerably for Lizzie Borden as the two develop a deep fondness for each other that soon blossoms into something more passionate.

Maybe the best part about Bryce Kass's screenplay for Lizzie is how it creates this quiet sense of dread within the cramped confines of the Borden home, Lizzie and her father could clash against one another in a profound manner at any given moment and that keeps the viewer as well as in-movie characters like Lizzie Borden herself on their toes at all times. It's also smart for Kass to depict a notable amount of the abusive behavior Lizzie Borden endures stem from her father wanting to control this young woman and make her an object he can do with as well. The idea of Andrew's desire for control over the women in his life being the impetus for his abusive behavior also resurfaces in his recurring sexual assault of Bridgett, an effective way to showcase how this kind of behavior can manifest even in just one person in very different forms.

Kass shows a fine ability to execute storylines that are reliant on gradual quiet escalation in the relationship between Lizzie and Bridgett, which at first starts out with Lizzie teaching their new housemaid to read before it becomes a more intimate romantic relationship. This allows the two characters bond to be clearly established and lend a riveting quality to see them subtly dancing on the cusp of actually giving into their desires for one another. Lizzie is a film all about stuff bubbling underneath the surface, just waiting for the chance to come forth and actually make its presence known, and unfortunately for Andrew Borden and his wife, the pent-up emotions of Lizzie Borden soon manifest in bloody violence.

All of those emotions informing her motivations for her grisly crime are handled by Chloe Sevigny in a terrific lead performance that demonstrates some real range in depicting the expansive emotional journey Lizzie Borden travels down. Sevigny lends a restrained but fiery spirit to Borden's tenacious nature in the face of her father's abusive behavior while Sevigny lends some complex humanity to the horrifying sequences depicting Borden carrying out the murders. Meanwhile, in the role of Bridgett Sullivan, Kristen Stewart adds yet another sterling dramatic performance to her impressive recent list of acting credits, she's especially good in any scene where she has to sell her dynamic with Chloe Sevigny's character.

The writing and acting in Lizzie are the movies best attributes for sure, while the directing (coming courtesy of Craig William Macneill) and editing, save for the unique way the sequences depicting Borden committing the murders are depicted, are more serviceable but standard in comparison while there are moments where the low-budget nature of the productions does become noticeable enough to become briefly distracting. Even considering those shortcomings that do hold it back, I found Lizzie to be a good movie that offers up its own take on the infamous Lizzie Borden murder trial that places an emphasis on the omnipresent hardship Borden experienced and how that impacted her on a psychological level, a restrained character study that Chloe Sevigny excels in.