True crime is big business at the moment. Documentaries like Making a Murderer, Casting Jonbenet and The Staircase and podcasts like Sword and Scale, Generation Why and Casefile generate large audiences and discussion. There are though certain crimes that transcend the regular true crime audience and pass into the wider pop culture consciousness. The murder of Abby and Andrew Borden, allegedly by Andrew’s daughter Lizzie, is one of those crimes. Since her trial ended in acquittal in 1892 there have been books – fiction and non-fiction – and films speculating on various ways the crimes might have occurred.
This latest telling of the story seems to unofficially draw inspiration from author Ed McBain’s speculation that Lizzie (Chloe Sevigny) had a relationship with the family’s housekeeper Bridget Sullivan (Kristen Stewart), but doesn’t suggest that this was the motive for the murder.
I saw promise in director Craig William Macneill’s first feature, The Boy, when it played LFF in 2015. The slow burning story of the childhood of a nascent Michael Myers fell apart in its third act, but the first hour suggested a strong grip of suspense and a sense of horror that rumbles in the background of every scene. Here he tries to stretch that same feeling out across the whole film rather than just the first two acts, but it doesn’t come together the same way. The slow burn never quite catches fire. This is, for the subject matter, an austere and quiet film. Macneill and screenwriter Bryce Kass slowly build Lizzie’s resentment of her father (Jamey Sheridan) in particular. Chloe Sevigny seethes effectively as Lizzie tries first to resist her father’s petty acts of control, then sees how he sexually exploits Bridget, and later learns about his plans to make her uncle the executor of his will, effectively cutting Lizzie and her sister Emma (Kim Dickens) out of their inheritance. It may require a rewatch to see just when Sevigny’s performance clicks over to acknowledge that Lizzie is now plotting murder. I am, unfortunately, still not on board with the critical reevaluation of Kristen Stewart, who I continue to find a distractingly mannered and fidgety presence. She’s not bad here, she does have chemistry with Sevigny and their scenes alone together – especially the first time they almost kiss – definitely have a charge to them. Stewart is also slightly hamstrung by having a smaller role than you’d expect given her lead billing, but there are still far too many moments for me where I find myself watching Stewart act her hardest.
For the most part, Lizzie is more restrained costume drama than blood and guts true crime tale. The performances and Macneill’s camera both reflect that. Jamey Sheridan and Fiona Shaw both do precise work as Andrew and Abby Borden, with Shaw especially effective in a venomous late scene with Sevigny. Macneill shoots with a composed style and slow pace which is a highly effective choice when the murder sequences do finally arrive, providing an effective contrast to the violence. Sadly, all this restraint does mean that the film feels long at 105 minutes, often moving at a snail’s pace, which means that much of the expected tension is leached out of the film’s first two acts.
I often found myself thinking of Claude Chabrol’s La Ceremonie while watching this film. That too has an uneducated maid working in the home of a rich family and making an inappropriate ‘friendship’ with a woman who helps her learn to read, among other similarities. Chabrol’s film, however, has both a vein of social satire and sense of a mischief that I sometimes found myself longing for here. Lizzie is by no means a bad film, but it’s all just a bit polite for my liking.
Lizzie screens in LFF’s Dare programme on Thursday 11th, Saturday 13th and Saturday 20th of October
