Monster Season 4 Takes On Lizzie Borden: Release Date Buzz and Everything We Know
Monster roars back as cameras roll on season four.
Netflix just dropped Monster: The Ed Gein Story, and before the opening-week chatter even cooled off, Ryan Murphy went ahead and pulled the sheet back on the next one. Season 4 is officially rolling cameras, it is all about Lizzie Borden, and yes, the guy who just played Ed Gein is now playing her dad. Not subtle, but it is intriguing.
So, what is Monster doing next?
The new season jumps way back to 1892 and centers on the Borden murders in Fall River, Massachusetts. Lizzie Borden was tried for killing her father and stepmother with an axe and then acquitted. That makes this the show’s first season built around a woman who was not convicted, which changes the usual Monster playbook.
When is it coming out?
There is no release date yet. Production is underway now, which points to 2026. The franchise has been on a pretty steady drip — season 1 in 2022, season 2 in 2024, season 3 in 2025 — so Netflix probably is not planning a long gap.
The cast, and the fun wrinkle
Ella Beatty is your Lizzie Borden — you might have seen her in Murphy’s Feud: Capote vs the Swans, and yes, she is the daughter of Annette Bening and Warren Beatty. Charlie Hunnam, fresh off playing Ed Gein, is Andrew Borden (Lizzie’s father). Rebecca Hall is Abby Borden (the stepmother). Vicky Krieps, who you just saw in season 3, is back too, this time as the Bordens’ live-in maid. Billie Lourd is Lizzie’s sister Emma, and Jessica Barden plays actress Nance O'Neil, a close friend of Lizzie’s after the trial. And a little behind-the-scenes twist: Jessica Barden’s husband, Max Winkler, who directed The Ed Gein Story, is back to direct the season 4 premiere.
- Ella Beatty as Lizzie Borden
- Charlie Hunnam as Andrew Borden
- Rebecca Hall as Abby Borden
- Vicky Krieps as Bridget Sullivan
- Billie Lourd as Emma Borden
- Jessica Barden as Nance O'Neil
A quick, clear run-through of the case
Lizzie and her sister Emma grew up religious, active in church groups. Their mother died, their father Andrew remarried Abby, and the vibe at home got tense — especially over money. Lizzie and Emma reportedly referred to Abby as 'Mrs Borden' and suspected she was there for Andrew’s wallet and social standing.
Morning of August 4, 1892: Andrew is found dead on the living room sofa; Abby is found upstairs in a guest bedroom. Both had been hacked to death with what investigators believed was an axe. Lizzie said she discovered her father’s body and alerted the maid, Bridget Sullivan.
The police work wasn’t exactly a model investigation — lots of criticism then and now. Locals claimed Lizzie tried to buy prussic acid (a poison) the day before the killings. In the week between the murders and her arrest, Lizzie burned a dress she said had paint on it; prosecutors later argued it was blood.
At trial, Lizzie didn’t take the stand. Testimony got messy, evidence was shaky, and on June 20, 1893, the jury acquitted her. No one else was ever charged. She was still shunned in Fall River, and years later she got hit with a shoplifting accusation that did not help the public image.
She and Emma inherited most of Andrew’s estate and lived together for about a decade. In 1905, Emma abruptly moved out; the sisters never spoke again. The rumored cause: Lizzie threw a party for her actress friend Nance O'Neil, and the town had plenty to gossip about their closeness. The facts of that rift were never confirmed.
Lizzie died of pneumonia on June 1, 1927, at 66. Emma died nine days later of chronic nephritis.
How Murphy says the season plays
This is not just a straight Lizzie docudrama. Murphy says the season widens the lens to other notorious women who were branded as monsters, which suggests a thematic thread running through Lizzie’s story rather than a single-case procedural.
"It’s a female Monster season. It talks not just about Lizzie, but other infamous women who were branded as monsters."
He cites Countess Elizabeth Bathory and Aileen Wuornos, adding: "There’s many different monsters that float through the season. This has the same approach: Profiling famous women who have been labeled as one thing, and we ask the question: Really, do you think so?"
Meanwhile, if you want a fix now
Monster: The Ed Gein Story is streaming on Netflix. Season 4 is coming together fast, and if I had to bet, 2026 is your window for Lizzie Borden.