The ‘Lizzie’ Trailer Shatters the Myth of an Early American Nightmare

Finding empathy in one of the most notorious murders in American history.

There is no other title card that fills me with frustration as much as “Based on a True Story.” I despise how it is often used to instill a sense of importance into the proceedings. The story you are about to see is real, and you should treat this film with the respect of history, blah, blah, blah, blah. All movies are fictional. They are written, shot, and chopped by humans. Each choice made on the page or on set or in the editing bay removes the “True Story.”

You will not find such label on the trailer below. Lizzie does not need to remind you of its real-life horrors. The myth of the title character’s ax murderer is engrained in most American children before we breach kindergarten. Lizzie Borden was accused but eventually acquitted in the killing of her parents. While a jury failed to place the ax in her hand, the media and a hundred years worth of pop culture condemned Ms. Borden as a psychopath.

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