[LIZZIE opens in
Cleveland on Friday September 21st at the Cedar Lee Theater.]
On August 4th, 1892, Andrew Borden and his wife,
Abby, were murdered in their home by an assailant using a hatchet. Andrew’s
daughter Lizzie was put on trial for the murders but ultimately acquitted. No
other suspects were ever charged. It was, at the time, the “crime of the
century”. Beyond those basic facts, however, there is considerable room for
speculation. And speculate director Craig William Macneil and writer Bryce Kass
do in the new film LIZZIE.
In setting its stage,
LIZZIE depicts Andrew Borden (Jamey Sheridan) as a cold, psychologically
abusive father to his daughters Lizzie (Chloe Sevigny) and Emma (Kim Dickens),
both of whom he views as past their prime marrying age and something of a
burden. Emma tries to stay under the radar, but Lizzie engages in small acts of
defiance, like going out on the town in the evening unchaperoned.
