A review in the Guardian has delivered a scathing assessment of Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story, the latest instalment in Ryan Murphy’s anthology series. The critic describes the episode as heavily fixated on gore and shock, arguing its approach feels juvenile and improvised rather than thoughtfully conceived.
The review singles out the production’s preoccupation with blood and bodily detail, including sequences centred on menstruation and explicit depictions of violence. The critic characterises these elements as bordering on fetishistic, suggesting they overshadow narrative clarity and character development and give the piece a feverish, disjointed tone.
Creative team and comparison to earlier entries
The instalment is written by Ian Brennan and is mainly directed by Max Winkler, the duo behind last year’s Monster episode The Ed Gein Story, which the reviewer also viewed unfavourably. Two episodes within the Lizzie Borden instalment are directed by Sarah Adina Smith, a female director whose involvement the reviewer notes but says does not alter the show’s overall sensibility.
The critic argues the production feels as if its ideas were applied on the fly, with period details and shocking moments layered on without a coherent through-line. That improvisational quality, combined with the show’s apparent appetite for sensational set pieces, is presented as evidence the series is prioritising style and provocation over narrative rigour.
The Borden murders of 1892 are a familiar subject for dramatization and true-crime retellings; according to the review, this particular iteration treats the material less as a platform for historical or psychological exploration and more as an opportunity for lurid spectacle. The Guardian’s critique frames the episode as another controversial and divisive entry in Murphy’s popular Monster franchise.