Vick's Picks movie reviews for October 2026

 - by Vick Silkenpen
   Movie Critic

Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story: I think the best policy for viewing this fourth Netflix production in the Monster anthology is to forget trying to measure many scenes against historical accuracy, and instead go with a “what if” perspective and enjoy it as a Halloween-season fictionalized jaunt. 

On a trip to Fall River, Massachusetts, some years ago, I discovered Lizzie’s murder-scene house had become a printing company and stationery store. After my visit, it became a bed-and-breakfast for true-crime tourists, paranormal tours, and events.

In this most recent production, the female serial killer Aileen Wuornos (played unforgettably by a snaggle-toothed Sarah Paulson) is one of these B&B customers, which never really happened since Wuornos was caught and arrested in 1991, long before the B&B transition happened. But such prochronism works well more than once in this fanciful retelling of a famous true crime that many of us know only too well, even though it was never “officially” solved. 

Lizzie was acquitted in 1893, but that does not mean she was “innocent.” This scenario leaves plenty of fodder for exploitation and evolution within legend. Max Winkler — yes, Henry’s son — directs six of these eight episodes with a stellar cast such as Ella Beatty (Lizzie Borden), Charlie Hunnan (Lizzie’s father Andrew), Vicky Krieps (maid Bridget Sullivan called Maggie), Rebecca Hall (Lizzie’s abusive stepmother Abby Borden), Jessica Barden (contemporary stage actress Nance O’Neill), Billie Lourd (Lizzie’s enigmatic older sister), and more, since some actors get multiple roles.

Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan co-created the Monster series, which previously built huge initial audiences. Lizzie is their first female killer (previously Jeffrey Dahmer, the Menendez Brothers, and Ed Gein), and this one develops into a feminist(s) against the culture version, including the front-and-center theory that the maid and Lizzie were having an ongoing lesbian relationship.

But the developing rage is also intertwined with financial considerations of inheritance. Lizzie would get only 5% upon the father’s death, and the stepmother got the rest, but there was no recognized will.

The abuse of both the father and the “evil” stepmother is motive enough. Still, Brennan decided in the writing that such speculation has entered the legend so totally that he could push it creatively even further.

Whether all the splatter scenes are necessary (even the supposed “trial run” murder of another sadist by Lizzie and the maid) or not is a matter of conjecture. Even the dark-humor scenes could be challenged critically, such as a dinner oyster-poisoning scene that veers into SNL projectile-schtick territory.  

Nonetheless, the overall blending of this sexual melodrama presentation and blacker-than-night humor works on many levels. It could lead to even more Lizzie Borden costumes this season.

The Witness: Why would a murder that happened in Britain in 1992 shake the country? This Netflix true crime drama about the killing of Rachel Nickell focuses less on the actual stabbing of her 49 times as she strolled on Wimbledon Common in southwest London and more on the absolute hell of the aftermath. The only eyewitness to her murder was her nearly three-year-old son (Alex), who was with her and oddly survived. How does an investigation get handled “properly” in such a dubious situation with such a small child’s testimony involved and with a killer still possibly roaming?

During the three episodes of this unusual series, we learn not so much about the flawed investigative abilities of the police or the killer as we do about the rippling grief effects over many years on the survivors. Alex as he grows to manhood and on Alex’s father, Andre Hanscombe. As Rachel’s partner, Andre is suddenly a single parent for Alex, whom he struggles and strives to protect from the damaging psychological intrusions of the sensationalist press as well as the probes of the police for any scraps of information the traumatized child might retain on what he saw of the murderer and why Alex was left alive.

It is all uncharted territory for the confused Andre, who makes many questionable decisions about what is “the best” course to end the horrors not only for Alex but also for himself. He even flees with Alex first to France and then Spain to try and remain anonymous and escape the prying paparazzi, but with only limited success. As the years pass and Alex becomes a rebellious teen acting out at times, he becomes estranged from his father, even as the police still contact both as they continue to unravel the case with false starts and then hits. 

The acting is crackerjack, with Alex first as the small boy, played by little Jahsaiah Williams, and later as a teen, played by Max Fincham. Jordan Bolger brings a grim determination to his role as Andre. The real-life father and son consulted with writer Rob Williams to give the script insight into their internal and external struggles over many years, until the cold case was solved.

The Gayly online. 10/7/26 @ 5:31 p.m. CST.