Netflix has released the fourth season of its anthology series Monster, this time turning to the case of Lizzie Borden. The new season became available on Sept. 17, with all eight episodes released at once, following the platform’s pattern of dropping a full season for viewers to watch on their own schedule. The launch continued the franchise’s move through well known true crime cases.
The season comes from creators Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan, who have overseen the anthology across its earlier installments. Each season of Monster has centered on a different real figure, and this chapter examines Borden, who was accused of murdering her father and stepmother in Massachusetts in 1892. Borden was later acquitted, and the ambiguity around the case has kept it a subject of public fascination for well over a century.
Ella Beatty, the daughter of Annette Bening and Warren Beatty, plays the title character. The casting places a member of a well known acting family at the center of a high profile Netflix project, and it gives Beatty a leading role in one of the platform’s most watched franchises. Her performance anchors a season built around a figure whose guilt or innocence remains debated. The part stands as one of the more prominent roles Beatty has taken on so far.
The ensemble around her is large and includes several established names. Sarah Paulson, Rebecca Hall, Charlie Hunnam, Jessica Barden, Vicky Krieps and Joey Pollari are among the cast. Three actors from the previous season of Monster return for this installment, continuing a pattern in which the anthology reuses performers in new roles across its seasons rather than carrying over characters.
By releasing the full season at once, Netflix positioned the show for the kind of concentrated viewing and online discussion that has followed earlier chapters of Monster. The anthology has drawn both strong viewership and debate over how it dramatizes real crimes, and the Borden season revisits a case old enough that most of the direct participants are long gone. The release adds another widely covered entry to one of the platform’s signature franchises. Coverage of the debut centered on the ensemble and on the platform’s continued interest in adapting real cases for a wide audience.
