Even with a bloody axe, it’s more like Lizzie boredom
(out of 4) Starring Chloë Sevigny, Kristen Stewart. Directed by Craig William Macneill. At Canada Square. 106 minutes. STC It is a crime that has fascinated for more than a century: the axe-slayings of Lizzie Borden’s father and stepmother on a hot August day in 1892.
Lizzie, the younger of two daughters, was put on trial and acquitted although, unsurprisingly, she lived the rest of her life under a cloud of suspicions and ostracism in Fall River, Massachusetts.
Numerous books, plays and movie treatments have followed, including the latest, Liz
zie. Unfortunately, despite solid performances, the film doesn’t break any new ground or offer any particular illumination on these grisly crimes.
Perhaps taking his cue from the 19th century — when the pace of life was much slower — director Craig William Mac- neill delivers a tale that often feels too contemplative and a pace that is at times lethargic.
The script by Bryce Kass offers its own theory of the crime — the murders, it seems, oc- curred about 90 minutes apart — and predictably Lizzie is in the mix. But what should feel revelatory and interesting instead feels mostly unsatisfying.
It helps immensely to have Chloë Sevigny — who also produced — in the lead role. She does a very fine job of presenting Lizzie as a woman chafing under the constraints of her age as embodied for her father, Andrew. Sevigny evinces her pain and inner turmoil in such an understated way that one cannot help but sympathize with her, even as she does seem a bit entitled.
Jamey Sheridan is splendidly villainous in the role of Andrew Borden, a successful businessman who rules his household with a very firm hand and that includes taking liberties with the newly hired maid, Bridget, who must submit to being called Maggie (and more).
Kristen Stewart plays Bridget with a fine Irish lilt but her brooding and sorrowful character bespeaks of victimhood. While Bridget engages in a sexual relationship with Lizzie, it doesn’t feel entirely plausible and in the end, Stewart creates a character that is far too enigmatic to be believable.
The story shifts back and forth between the murders and the six months leading up to it, followed by the trial which is given short shrift. But the reconstruction of the crime feels muddled and unsatisfactory.
The film gets some things right, namely the repressive times which shaped Lizzie and a great lead performance by Sevigny. But the film tells a tale that feels speculative and convoluted without ever drawing the audience fully into such a fascinatingly grisly true-crime story.