Through a series of exciting and dramatic events, this movie presents the biography of Lizzie Borden, a young woman who lives under the control of her father. Suddenly, she finds herself entering an intimate relationship with the maid of the house, the thing that leads her to a chain of dangerous situations ending with her accused of murder her father and his wife.
The movie tackles [Lizzie's sexual awakening] much more head-on -- and explicitly -- than other depictions of Borden's life, including a recent Lifetime movie and series, The Lizzie Borden Chronicles.
Unfortunately, despite a couple of solid performances, the film doesn't break any new ground or offer any particular illumination on these grisly crimes.
In a moment where women and femmes are, in unprecedented numbers, demanding that their abusers be held accountable, this period drama is not without comfort.
When the time comes for the famous axe and whacks, Lizzie reveals itself as more Greek tragedy than murder mystery - a depiction of feminine ferocity and ingenuity in the face of injustice.
Borden was a cold-blooded killer, and the handsomely crafted, at times laborious Lizzie takes a step back and examines her story in a semi-modern context.
The team has come up with a psychologically realistic but polite work that, like the corsets around Lizzie's torso, feels too buttoned-down and joyless for its own good.
Casting LIZZIE - a telling of how the Borden Ax Murders might have gone - as a gothic horror film makes a certain amount of sense. If only they had given the thing a pulse.