X
- 2018
- R
- Roadside Attractions
- 1 h 45 m
- 2018
- R
- Roadside Attractions
- 1 h 45 m
Summary Lizzie is a psychological thriller that reveals many layers of the strange and fragile Lizzie Borden, who stood accused of the infamous 1892 axe murder of her family in Fall River, Massachusetts. An unmarried woman of 32 and a social outcast, Lizzie (Chloë Sevigny) lives a claustrophobic life under her father’s cold and domineering cont...
Directed By: Craig William Macneill
Written By: Bryce Kass
- 2018
- R
- Roadside Attractions
- 1 h 45 m
- 2018
- R
- Roadside Attractions
- 1 h 45 m
Lizzie
59
6.0
Where to Watch
Summary Lizzie is a psychological thriller that reveals many layers of the strange and fragile Lizzie Borden, who stood accused of the infamous 1892 axe murder of her family in Fall River, Massachusetts. An unmarried woman of 32 and a social outcast, Lizzie (Chloë Sevigny) lives a claustrophobic life under her father’s cold and domineering cont...
Directed By: Craig William Macneill
Written By: Bryce Kass
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 32 Critic Reviews
59
47% Positive
15 Reviews
15 Reviews
53% Mixed
17 Reviews
17 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 32 Critic Reviews
59
47% Positive
15 Reviews
15 Reviews
53% Mixed
17 Reviews
17 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Between the camerawork and the subtle performances, Lizzie could very easily have been a silent film while still telling its story as effectively. But Kass’ dialogue is terrific.
There are only two erotic scenes between the two women, and Macneill, Sevigny and Stewart handle them with conviction: For all the horror of her situation, Lizzie needed some larger motivation to wield her axe. Lizzie dramatically provides it.
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 25 User Ratings
6.0
36% Positive
9 Ratings
9 Ratings
44% Mixed
11 Ratings
11 Ratings
20% Negative
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 25 User Ratings
6.0
36% Positive
9 Ratings
9 Ratings
44% Mixed
11 Ratings
11 Ratings
20% Negative
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
This was amazing, the story behind it equally so. Apparently, the court case was like the OJ trial of last century. Chloe Sevigny is always good and never better than here (except Boys Don't Cry of course), and Kirsten Stewart was very good as well (I usually find her very lukewarm, but she's doing 10 movies a year so what do I know?). The story is extremely strong and direction was solid if not remarkable.
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I am not quite sure why this movie was made, but I can tell you that the two lead performances (Chloe Sevigny and Kristen Stewart) are fantastic, and the rest of the actors are excellent also. This movie doesn’t add anything new to solving the mystery of Lizzie Borden’s personality, although it does do some speculating and interprets some of the known facts. It is also a beautifully done history piece with an atmosphere of claustrophobia. If you are not an expert on Lizzie Borden and/or you want to see some wonderful screen acting, this movie is well worth your time.
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Ultimately, an artsy crime film like this depends on the power of its central performances and how compelling the story’s main point is. Sevigny and Stewart make a good team, keeping you invested in proceedings even when the narrative bogs down.
The respect for Lizzie means that film almost denies drama, rendering some moments almost inert. It could use an operatic high note, or even a truly deep dark night of the soul, some oscillation in the levels. But the film reflects the evenness with which Sevigny portrays the unflappable Lizzie.
The sexual backstory is a new twist, one the filmmakers handle with less finesse than is healthy for the argument that they ultimately make.
Lizzie is, at best, a powerful showcase for the two actors. At its worst, it’s a tiresome and unappealing exercise in the inevitability of a family’s mutually assured destruction.
There are disjointed elements here—a modern-leaning script, driftless performances and an overwrought score from Jeff Russo, its clanking piano more suited to an out-and-out Gothic thriller—that Macneill is ultimately unable to wrestle into a cohesive, compelling whole. The result is a dull retread of a story that deserved better.
Could do with a bit more vitality, but the acting is superb
Written by Bryce Kass, and directed by Craig William Macneill, Lizzie is based on the case of Lizzie Borden, who was accused and subsequently acquitted of the axe murders of her father and stepmother in Massachusetts in 1892. A revisionist take on the material, the film presents Borden as a protofeminist lashing out against patriarchal oppression, ****, and sexual assault. And although the languid pace will alienate many, whilst the liberties it takes with historical facts will irk others, there is much to praise here.
One of most interesting aspects of Lizzie is its narrative structure. Beginning on August 4 just as the (unseen) bodies are discovered, it then flashes back six months to the arrival of housemaid Bridget Sullivan (Kristen Stewart), building up to August 4 again. This time we see the bodies, but not the murders. It then jumps forward to the trial, before once again flashing back to August 4, this time showing us the actual killing. This structure allows the film to briefly cover the trial, whilst still employing the murders as the dénouement. It also allows the narrative to build tension around an event which the audience already knows is coming.
Aesthetically, Noah Greenberg's cinematography is particularly laudable. The film rarely ventures outside the Borden house, with the photography giving rise to a restrictive and claustrophobic mise en scène. Often framing Borden in windows, doorways, and behind railings, whilst using shallow focus to flatten backgrounds, the sense is that this is a woman living a confined life with little room to move. When she first kisses the maid, Bridget Sullivan (Kristen Stewart), the camera pulls back to reveal that Lizzie's father Andrew (Jamey Sheridan) is watching them - even in this moment of release, they are still trapped in his domain.
Assisting Greenberg's photography is Ruy García's sound design. Of particular note are the floorboards, which creak with the slightest touch, making any kind of clandestine interaction between Borden and Sullivan virtually impossible, and thus contributing to the sense of the household as a prison. Enhancing this even further, is the lack of aural warmth, with footsteps and voices echoing and bouncing off the walls due to the lack of soft surfaces.
As a narrative of female empowerment (albeit of the homicidal variety), most of the film's main themes relate to combating the patriarchal strictures of the Gilded Age, represented primarily by Andrew, his brother-in-law John (Denis O'Hare), and his wife Abby (Fiona Shaw), who reinforces patriarchal hypocrisy by unquestioningly submitting to it. Presenting Borden as a woman driven to her wit's end, with few practical options in a society that looks down on her because she is unwed and in her 30s, the film depicts a free-spirit living in a cage, yearning for agency, a protofeminist actively rebelling against the dominion of men. Presenting her and Sullivan's relationship as an illicit romance which they had to hide because of the moral bigotry of the age, the film adopts a #MeToo sensibility, as they fight back against self-righteous judgement, unchecked abuse, and socially sanctioned oppression.
There are, however, some sizeable problems. For one, the film lacks energy, and the slow pacing will leave some viewers bored to tears. Additionally, apart from Sevigny and Stewart, the rest of the cast is wasted. Perhaps the most egregious problem, however, is that the film seems as war with itself. On the one hand, it wants to be an elegant, period-appropriate tale of women attempting to take their destinies into their own hands, but on the other, it wants to present a modern story of murder and **** women. At times, such as the superb depiction of the murders themselves, you can feel the modern sensibilities rise to the surface, but for the most part, they're stifled by the hushed austerity of a more muted milieu. Additionally, Kass's script tips the scale in Borden's favour too much (Andrew is not just an authoritarian ****, but a rapist; there's also John's creepy intimations, Abby's refusal to stand up for her step-daughters, and Borden's protofeminist humanitarianism). Weighing the scales so decisively drains the film of ambiguity and much of its vitality, presenting a binary story of righteous good slaying hypocritical evil, rather than a murder with many facets. Lizzie tells the story of an initially powerless victim who lashes out and, quite literally, slays patriarchal authority. A Gothic tale told from a #MeToo perspective, it tries to be many things at once - a revisionist history, a feminist tract, a championing of ****, a murder mystery, a period drama - but ends up kind of falling into a no man's land between genres. Still though, there are aspects that are enjoyable, if you can look past the enervating pace.
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Lizzie the lezzie! That's the angle of this latest take on notorious axe murderer Lizzie Borden. Chloë Sevigny plays the frustrated daughter with her typically flat delivery. The combination of her amorous relationship with the house maid (Kristen Stewart) and the increasingly cruel actions of her father drive her to the legendary hacking. There's a lovely period ambience that's echoed by the subdued period pacing. While danger bubbles under the surface, it never builds to any sort of boiling point. Somber and subdued makes for an interesting story, but not much of an emotionally compelling one.
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Watching a boring movie is even worse when you can hear only half the dialogue. Knowing the story of Lizzie Borden helps you follow the movie but then the screenwriter, Bryce Kass, has approached it from a different angle and you miss many of the undertones.
The production itself is mainly dark, which is understandable in a film like this and the director Craig William Macneill handles both the frontal nudity and the mother getting the ’40 wacks and her father 41’ discreetly up to a point. By the way, if the wacks are a spoiler you are too young to see this movie.
Chloe Sevigny, as Lizzie, is okay but she has yet to really impress me. Kristen Stewart, as the maid Bridget, adds another intriguing acting job in an independent film as she has done since playing Bella Swan in The Twilight Saga.
The cast including Jamey Sheridan as the father, Fiona Shaw as his wife, Kim **** as Lizzie’s sister Emma and Dennis O’Hare as an uncle all deliver the goods.
The most interesting part of “Lizzie” is the end credits when we learn what happened to Lizzie, Bridget and Emma leaving me to wonder how much of that information is true.
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Awards
Sundance Film Festival
• 1 Nomination
