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Critics Consensus: Lizzie forces audiences to take a new look at a widely known true-crime story -- even if the well-acted end result is never quite as gripping as it could be.
Critic Consensus: Lizzie forces audiences to take a new look at a widely known true-crime story -- even if the well-acted end result is never quite as gripping as it could be.
The movie doesn't seem to be playing near you.
All Critics (122) | Top Critics (24) | Fresh (80) | Rotten (42)
For all the horror of her situation, Lizzie needed some larger motivation to wield her axe. Lizzie dramatically provides it.
Unfortunately, despite a couple of solid performances, the film doesn't break any new ground or offer any particular illumination on these grisly crimes.
The movie tackles [Lizzie's sexual awakening] much more head-on -- and explicitly -- than other depictions of Borden's life, including a recent Lifetime movie and series, The Lizzie Borden Chronicles.
When the time comes for the famous axe and whacks, Lizzie reveals itself as more Greek tragedy than murder mystery - a depiction of feminine ferocity and ingenuity in the face of injustice.
Borden was a cold-blooded killer, and the handsomely crafted, at times laborious Lizzie takes a step back and examines her story in a semi-modern context.
While you wish the characters were a little more fleshed out, the light effectively traps you within that airless era.
It's a dark and bitter tale, yet still manages to convey a kind of exhilaration.
The element of horror is treated circumspectly, almost dispassionately, as if to douse its mythic element in as much cold reality as possible.
The leading ladies are superb. Sevigny's career has been all about taking risks and experimenting from the beginning, and she's a natural fit for this daring, mostly successful big-screen take on the alleged murderess.
Sevigny and Stewart deliver superbly expressive performances that rely on eye contact and physicality far more than words.
You also have to appreciate positive things like the music and photography, in addition to the art direction, that make Lizzie a good film that, without a doubt, could have been better. [Full review in Spanish]
[An] uneven but well-acted and pertinent drama...
The story behind the nursery rhyme in all of its naked violence. Slow in parts but is salvaged in the long run with very fine performances most notably Kristen Stewart who is a most improved actress. (9-29-18)
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