Loved ‘Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story’? Watch these 4 next
Loved ‘Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story’? Watch these 4 next
Some stick close to the facts, while others get just as strange and psychological as Lizzie’s story.
“Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story” is loose on facts, big on drama. And that’s part of the fun of the series created by Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan. This blood-soaked dramatization is part of the larger “Monster” franchise, which means there are a few obvious places to look if you want something similar to queue up next. So, here are the four shows I’d watch next if you loved “Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story.”
Loved ‘Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story’? Watch: ‘Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story’
Tara and I ripped through this series when it dropped. It’s addictive, troubling, and hard to stop watching. Just like “Lizzie,” “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” takes a real murder and turns it into a story about abuse, motive, psychology, and how normal people can get driven to the very edge. It follows Erik and Lyle Menendez (Cooper Koch and Nicholas Alexander Chavez) as they plot and carry out the murder of their parents. So, there’s no mystery here. The real question is why…
And it doesn’t ever give you one single answer. As you watch them deal with the fallout of what they’ve done, and the trial that follows, you get competing perspectives on why these two wealthy, upper-class Beverly Hills boys took a shotgun to their parents in the living room. At first it feels like cold-blooded murder. Until the alleged abuse comes to light. Then you wonder if they really had any other choice.
Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story
The story of the Menéndez brothers, who were convicted in 1996 of murdering their parents José and Mary Louise “Kitty” Menéndez.
Check out: ‘The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox’
This story was everywhere not that long ago. “The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox” follows Amanda Knox (played by Grace Van Patten), an American student in Italy whose life implodes after her roommate Meredith Kercher is murdered and Amanda becomes the main suspect. You get all the familiar beats you want, including the interrogation, prison, trial, appeal, and the media circus surrounding it all.
Everything about this case was interpreted, from Amanda’s sexuality, clothes, facial expressions, relationships, and even her ordinary behavior — all twisted into the notorious “Foxy Knoxy” character you may have heard about. That’s the thematic similarity to “Lizzie.” It’s society’s deep fascination with a female “monster,” and all the gender expectations and judgments about how a woman is supposed to behave that push this beyond the normal true crime story. If that’s the angle that grabbed you with “Lizzie,” then this is your next watch.
The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox
Amanda Knox arrives in Italy for her study abroad only to be wrongfully imprisoned for murder weeks later. Follow Knox’s relentless fight to prove her innocence and reclaim her freedom and examines why authorities and the world stood so firmly in judgment.
Watch next: ‘The Girl from Plainville’
This is another one that Tara and I could not look away from. “The Girl from Plainville” follows Elle Fanning as Michelle Carter, whose text-based relationship with Conrad “Coco” Roy III (Colton Ryan) became a criminal case when Conrad died by suicide in 2014. The main question is: if Michelle egged him on to die, is she guilty of manslaughter?
What’s interesting (and disturbing) about the series is that it stages text conversations as face-to-face encounters. It illustrates Michelle’s “Glee” obsession by turning these moments into full fantasy sequences. As for why Michelle encouraged Conrad to kill himself, that question will drive you through the series, from the start of the relationship to the final verdict. Just don’t be surprised if you don’t like what you find.
The Girl from Plainville
The controversial case of Michelle Carter, who was convicted in 2017 of involuntary manslaughter for encouraging the suicide of her then-boyfriend via texts and phone calls.
Want more ‘Monster’? Watch: ‘DAHMER - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story’
If you want a darker version of “Lizzie” from the same anthology, jump to “DAHMER - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story.” This is the first installment of the series, following Evan Peters as Jeffrey Dahmer. You’ll see his childhood, family history, murders, arrest, trial… all the way to the end of the line.
This one covers a lot of the same ground as “Lizzie” — a notorious killer, a terrible family, institutional failures, and the transformation from murderer to cultural touchstone. You also get the same look at what happens after the crime, and how the media and entertainment make the killer’s name more famous than the victims they killed. But fair warning: it’s also much darker, bleaker, and more oppressive. There’s no black comedy, little romance, no punk energy. So you may need a palate cleanser after each episode!
DAHMER - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story
This series examines the gruesome and horrific true crimes of Jeffrey Dahmer and the systemic failures that enabled one of America’s most notorious serial killers to continue his murderous spree in plain sight for over a decade.
More to watch after finishing ‘Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story’
‘A Friend of the Family’ | Peacock
A Friend of the Family
The Brobergs are completely unprepared for the sophisticated tactics a neighbor of theirs uses to exploit their vulnerabilities, separate them and turn their daughter against them.
‘Dr. Death’ | Peacock
Dr. Death
An anthology series, with each season following a new medical true crime story.
‘The Dropout’ | Hulu
The Dropout
The story of Elizabeth Holmes, the enigmatic Stanford dropout who founded medical testing start-up Theranos. Lauded as a Steve Jobs for the next tech generation and once worth billions of dollars, the myth crumbled when it was revealed that none of the tech actually worked, putting thousands of people’s health in grave danger.