First look at Sarah Paulson as Aileen Wuornos in Ryan Murphy’s Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story trailer
In the trailer, Borden is depicted as having a secret lesbian love affair with her maid, Bridget Sullivan
By Aaron Sugg
Netflix has dropped the new trailer for Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story, featuring Sarah Paulson as notorious serial killer Aileen Wuornos.
Paulson appears at the end of the trailer, delivering one standout line: “Oh, I fuckin’ know what happened.”
The Ryan Murphy bloody true-crime anthology centres on Lizzie Borden (Ella Beatty), who was accused of murdering her father and stepmother with an axe in 1892.
Sarah Paulson stars in Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story trailer
Paulson’s character is introduced in the trailer at the same location where Borden killed her father, Andrew Jackson Borden, played by Charlie Hunnam.
Although Wuornos lived almost a century later and isn’t directly connected to the Borden case, the series connects the two women through a legacy of female violence and rebellion.
Speaking to Netflix’s Tudum, Beatty said the series explores “why women kill” and whether violent people are “born or made”. The show portrays Lizzie’s legacy as influencing Wuornos, creating a thematic connection between the two notorious killers.
“The show is exploring a legacy of female rage” – Ella Beatty on combining the Lizzie Borden and Aileen Wuornos storylines
Beatty explained: “The show is exploring a legacy of female rage and reaction to the set of circumstances that they are presented with.”
“I think there’s a connection [between Borden and Wuornos] that Ryan and Ian were interested in mapping and exploring,” she added.
In real life, Wuornos was convicted of six murders committed in Florida between 1989 and 1990 and later confessed to a seventh killing. She was executed by lethal injection in 2002.
Was Wuornos a lesbian?
Wuornos was publicly lesbian and had relationships with women, including her long-term girlfriend, Tyria Moore, whom she met before her killing spree. Moore later played a key role in the investigation after the pair separated in 1990.
In the trailer, Borden is also depicted as having a secret lesbian affair with her maid, Bridget Sullivan (Vicky Krieps), although there is no historical evidence confirming that Borden was queer in real life, despite longstanding speculation about her sexuality.
This season marks a significant female-led change for the Monster anthology, which previously focused on male killers such as Jeffrey Dahmer (Evan Peters) and the Menendez brothers, portrayed by Nicholas Alexander Chavez and Cooper Koch.
Paulson has also been announced to reprise several of her roles in the upcoming 13th season of American Horror Story, which arrives on FX and Hulu on 24 September 2026.
Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story arrives to Netflix on 17 September.