Lizzie

Over the years, the New England legend of Lizzie Borden has inspired books, movies, and even an opera. The facts: on August 4, 1892, in Fall River, MA, 32 year-old Lizzie and her sister Emma lived under the control of their oppressive father. But when Lizzie was tried and acquitted of axe-murdering him and her stepmother, it ignited many attempts to explain what actually happened. In this wannabe psychological thriller, the lonely life of willful Lizzie (Chloë Sevigny) is changed when a young maid, Bridget Sullivan (Kristen Stewart), comes to work for the family. At that time, all female Irish servants were called “Maggie,” rather than their given name. But defiant Lizzie recognizes Bridget as an individual. Lizzie and Bridget are kindred spirits, lesbians in love during a repressive time. Penny-pinching dad Andrew (Jamey Sheridan) and his submissive second wife Abby (Fiona Shaw) are caricature villains. When Lizzie catches Andrew sexually abusing Bridget, she breaks a hand mirror, scattering shattered glass in her barefoot father’s path. And while Andrew and his wife’s brother, John (Denis O’Hare), confer about improving their business prospects, duplicitous John yearns to eliminate Andrew entirely and institutionalize spinsters Lizzie and Emma, acquiring the family money for himself. Directed with a heavy hand by Craig William Macneill, Lizzie wants to be a feminist, highbrow horror movie, with a naked, blood-splattered Sevigny as a stolid, axe-wielding stalker. Optional. (S. Granger)