“Lizzie is brutal, historically attuned, and committed to exploring effeminate trauma and retaliation,” wrote Sarah Fonseca in her review of Craig William Macneill’s reimagining of the infamous 1892 Lizzie Borden murders, in which Lizzie was accused of axe murdering her own family.
“Macneill… refrains from watering Lizzie into a mischievous bombshell,” Fonseca continued. “Grappling with health issues, reading books aloud to her pets, and living under her father’s thumb, she’s anything but cool. Perhaps this is what makes this movie so alluring: there’s a little of Lizzie in all of us.”
Today, Roadside Attractions dropped the first trailer for Lizzie, which stars Chloë Sevigny as Lizzie Borden and Kristen Stewart as Bridget Sullivan, the maid who Lizzie may or may not have, in real life, had a thing with. Luckily this isn’t real life, it’s a movie, and they definitely have a thing:
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Riese is the 43-year-old Co-Founder of Autostraddle.com as well as an award-winning writer, video-maker, LGBTQ+ Marketing consultant and aspiring cyber-performance artist who grew up in Michigan, lost her mind in New York and now lives in Los Angeles. Her work has appeared in nine books, magazines including Marie Claire and Curve, and all over the web including Nylon, Queerty, Nerve, Bitch, Emily Books and Jezebel. She had a very popular personal blog once upon a time, and then she recapped The L Word, and then she had the idea to make this place, and now here we all are! In 2016, she was nominated for a GLAAD Award for Outstanding Digital Journalism. She's Jewish and has a cute dog named Carol. Follow her on twitter and instagram.
That awkward moment when you realize that you now can conflate blood-spattering violence and lust…
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Wow, really happy that Sevigny has the possibility to use her whole potential in a role like this. She’s such a great actress.
And the chemistry IS definetly electric, as promised…
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Wow, uh, Kristen Stewart in a maid‘s uniform? With Chloe Sevigny as Lizzie Borden?
I‘m very sure that somewhere, someone has written fanfic about this Lizzie Borden and the maid in the haystack thing and is now very,very happy.
Personally, I won’t be able to deal with the bloody murder, but if I had a Heavenly Creatures kind of collection,this would certainly go in there.
I don’t though, but I wish everyone who doesn’t mind, great enjoyment, and yay to lesbian period dramas with stellar casts!
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I think Sister My Sister would have to go in that murdery queer lady collection. It’s pretty effed up but I admit I was really into it in my teens.
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I feel like you’re giving Riese an idea for a new Halloween kind of list.
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I’m conflicted.
Part of me is like, no thank you, we don’t need any more movies about murderous queers.
Part of me is like, we need more quality movies with lesbians.
Part of me is peeking out from behind my fingers at the blood spatters and going NFW am I watching this.
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Pretty much all of me is saying don’t make the axe murderer a lesbian. Don’t really need that kind of representation.
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finally a movie where a queer woman kills a sexual abuser with an ax!!! im late to the lizzie borden thing but i love chloe and im v ready for this
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i can’t handle this.
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Chloë Sevigny’s voice…mmm…
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riese will you go to a midnight screening of this movie on the night it premieres with me
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Well this is a very literal take on my feeling that the straight men in any movie should be axed.
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this isn’t a very intellectual addition to The Discourse but KStew’s entire head / face is so much smaller than Chloe Sevigny’s entire head / face that i thought the title image for this article & that of the linked review was photoshop
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i for one am excited for the lesbian-ing combined with the literal murder of patriarchal shitty men.
my body is ready.
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I have a “no rape/murder” policy for entertainment, which means I can’t see ERWB’s work lately, among other things, but this film seems quite compelling.
That awkward moment when you realize that you now can conflate blood-spattering violence and lust…
Wow, really happy that Sevigny has the possibility to use her whole potential in a role like this. She’s such a great actress.
And the chemistry IS definetly electric, as promised…
Wow, uh, Kristen Stewart in a maid‘s uniform? With Chloe Sevigny as Lizzie Borden?
I‘m very sure that somewhere, someone has written fanfic about this Lizzie Borden and the maid in the haystack thing and is now very,very happy.
Personally, I won’t be able to deal with the bloody murder, but if I had a Heavenly Creatures kind of collection,this would certainly go in there.
I don’t though, but I wish everyone who doesn’t mind, great enjoyment, and yay to lesbian period dramas with stellar casts!
I think Sister My Sister would have to go in that murdery queer lady collection. It’s pretty effed up but I admit I was really into it in my teens.
I feel like you’re giving Riese an idea for a new Halloween kind of list.
I’m conflicted.
Part of me is like, no thank you, we don’t need any more movies about murderous queers.
Part of me is like, we need more quality movies with lesbians.
Part of me is peeking out from behind my fingers at the blood spatters and going NFW am I watching this.
Pretty much all of me is saying don’t make the axe murderer a lesbian. Don’t really need that kind of representation.
finally a movie where a queer woman kills a sexual abuser with an ax!!! im late to the lizzie borden thing but i love chloe and im v ready for this
i can’t handle this.
Chloë Sevigny’s voice…mmm…
riese will you go to a midnight screening of this movie on the night it premieres with me
Well this is a very literal take on my feeling that the straight men in any movie should be axed.
this isn’t a very intellectual addition to The Discourse but KStew’s entire head / face is so much smaller than Chloe Sevigny’s entire head / face that i thought the title image for this article & that of the linked review was photoshop
i for one am excited for the lesbian-ing combined with the literal murder of patriarchal shitty men.
my body is ready.
I have a “no rape/murder” policy for entertainment, which means I can’t see ERWB’s work lately, among other things, but this film seems quite compelling.