Guardian - 21 January 2018, 12:18 (+ 2289 days 18 hours and 6 minutes) Movies & TV
Sevigny shines in plum role as Lizzie Borden of ‘forty whacks’ notoriety, posited here as triggered by thwarted romance with Irish maidservant Kristen StewartI’ll confess that, beyond the little nursery rhyme, I didn’t know too much about the story of Lizzie Borden, but it appears that much of what’s ended up in Craig William Macneill’s Lizzie is conjecture. So to catch you up to speed in case you never heard it, here goes: Lizzie Borden took an axe, gave her mother forty whacks. When she saw what she had done, she gave her father forty-one.The resultant mess from this bit of New England gothic folklore are some of the first images in this gripping, well-acted and sharply-written low-budget drama. We then flash back six months, just enough time for Macneill to get audiences … well, I won’t exactly say cheering for the eventual act of violence, but at least understanding. Continue reading...