It's 1892 Fall River, Massachusetts. 32-year-old Lizzie Borden (Chloë Sevigny) is living under her domineering father Andrew (Jamey Sheridan) and stepmother Abby (Fiona Shaw) with her older sister Emma (Kim Dickens) and housemaid Maggie Sullivan (Kristen Stewart). It's the legendary sensational axe murders and subsequent trial of Lizzie for those murders. This version embraces the speculation of sexual molestation of the maid and Lizzie's romance with her.

It's obvious that this is trying hard to be In Cold Blood. For most of the movie, there is stand-offish quality to the execution. Sevigny and Stewart are speaking almost in hush tones. There is a lack of expositions. The side characters need more background. For example, it doesn't explain how John Morse is related or maybe I missed it. He's their dead mother's brother which makes it very incesty. Quite frankly, I assumed him to be Abby's brother or simply a family friend. The tension is also very uneven in the early parts. The final reveal of the killings is harrowing and does elevate it back up to the In Cold Blood aspirations. I wonder if something could be done with the poisoning aspect of the story like the pigeons story.

The film is a drama and not a horror/slasher. We get to see who did the killings at the end. PLOT SPOILER: It was Elizabeth Montgomery. Lizzie (Chloë Sevigny) is portrayed as sharp-tongued, educated, independent, cultured and wanting out with her father's money. It shows her moving in that direction. Kristen Stewart plays the facial expression free maid Bridget, you can call me Maggie. Bridget and Lizzie become lovers and Bridget is also the plaything of Andrew Borden (Denis O'Hare). Sister Emma (Kim Dickens) was a ghost for most of the feature as was the mom (Fiona Shaw)

This film was okay. I liked other versions more. This one might be the most historical narrative.

Guide: sex and nudity (Kristen Stewart, Chloë Sevigny)

Craig William Macneill directed the first season of Channel Zero that I loved so much, Candle Cove. I wish I could say the same for his latest movie, this exploration of the life of Lizzie Borden starring Chloë Sevigny as Lizzie and Kristen Stewart as her lover and maid Bridget "Maggie" Sullivan.

Lizzie is a 32-year-old unmarried woman, which makes her an old maid in 1892. Her father dominates her life and she's sickly, but she has a new friend, an Irish immigrant named Bridget Sullivan who has come to work as a servant in the rich Borden household.

Threats are left at the door of the house, as many in the town are jealous of Lizzie's father and the way he takes land. He informs a family member, Uncle John, that the girls are to get none of the money from the estate upon his death. Lizzie attempts to sell all of the family's jewelry but is caught and her beloved pigeons are hacked to bits by her father's axe.

The bond between Bridget and Lizzie grows after the death of the servant's mother and the discovery that Mr. Borden is abusing her. Finally, her father catches the two making love in the barn and forbids their relationship.

You know what happens next: axe mayhem. But what should have happened was both girls committing the murders. Only Lizzie completed hers and she comes back to kill her father in front of Bridget. The two are separated by the court case and never see one another again.

I wanted to like this way more than I ended up enjoying it. Then again, I love the 1975 made-for-TV movie The Legend of Lizzie Borden, which this is nowhere near.