Lizzie
Borden was the late Nineteenth Century equivalent of the Menendez Brothers. You
might remember how she “took an axe.” At least she had her reasons, according
to Craig William Macneill’s somewhat speculative Lizzie, which screens during the 2018 Sundance Film Festival.
You
know the Borden household must be dysfunctional when they insist their new
live-in maid, Bridget Sullivan, must be henceforth known as “Maggie,” just like
her predecessor. Only Lizzie, the younger Borden sister, shows her the respect
of calling her Bridget (actually, the internet says it was the exact opposite,
but whatever). Quickly, a friendship blossoms between the socially dissimilar
women that slowly evolves into a forbidden love.
Borden
resents her father Andrew Borden’s strict rules and suspects he has allowed their
wastrel uncle to squander her inheritance through his dodgy schemes. Of course,
her father and step-mother Abby find mere friendship between the two young women
highly problematic. When they discover the true nature of the relationship, the
Borden’s continued domestic life becomes untenable. She will take proactive
steps, but it all might be too much for the overwhelmed Sullivan to handle.
Macneill’s
previous film The Boy was quite a
sinister slow-burner, but the slow-burn of Lizzie
is even slower. It truly stacks the deck against Old Man Andrew Borden so
thoroughly, it is hard to understand how a just God could allow him to live so
long. Of course, it is clear Macneill and screenwriter Bryce Kass set out to
court favor with social justice mafia by giving Borden the most feminist,
straight male-demonizing spin possible. Perhaps that is all well and good up to
a point, but the conspicuous manipulativeness gets exhausting over time.
Still,
there is no question Kristen Stewart and Chloë Sevigny do fine work as Sullivan
and Ms. Lizzie, respectively. The development of their relationship always feels
convincingly organic. Frankly, as Andrew Borden, Jamey Sheridan might as well
be reprising the demonic role of Randall Flagg in the 1994 miniseries adaptation
of Stephen King’s The Stand, except
that was a much subtler performance. Alas, Kim Dickens and Fiona Shaw are stuck
with entirely disposable parts: older sis Emma and stepmom Abby.
Regardless,
we give ample credit to the design team that made modern day Savannah credibly
pass for turn-of-the-previous-century New England. This is not a bad film, but
it will disappoint genre fans who were blown away by the insidious subversive
flavor of The Boy. Recommended primarily
for Stewart fans and Lizzie Borden obsessives, Lizzie screens again this Thursday (1/25) and Friday (1/26) in Park
City, as part of this year’s Sundance Film Festival.