Entertainment
The Lizzie Borden Story’s Director on Practically Shooting That “Extremely Difficult” Scene
Summary
- In an interview with Collider, director Max Winkler says The Red Shoes, Atonement, and South Park inspired the show’s wild look.
- Winkler sees Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story as a love story between Lizzie and Bridget.
- The projectile vomiting scene used practical effects and took extensive testing to get right.
There’s a good chance you’ve seen something Max Winkler has worked on. His television directing resume is long, including everything from Ryan Murphy shows like American Horror Story, Feud: Capote vs. The Swans, and Monster to comedies like New Girl, Fresh Off the Boat, and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. His list of film credits is smaller but just as impressive, including the underrated, irreverent dramedy Flower, which was nominated for Best U.S. Narrative Feature at Tribeca in 2017, and sports drama Jungleland.
Winkler once again reunited with Murphy and Ian Brennan to direct Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story, which follows a young woman (Ella Beatty) who was accused (and later acquitted) of killing her parents with an axe in Fall River, Massachusetts, in 1892. Those who have watched the previous installments of Monster might be surprised to know that this season takes on a more overly comedic tone, though that humor is, admittedly, extremely dark. The show has a unique visual language to match its zany dialogue, making for a fun and stylish watch.
Collider got the chance to speak to Winkler about crafting the series’ look and feel. During the conversation, he discussed the references he drew inspiration from, filming that wild vomiting scene, why he views the show as a love story at its core, and more.
‘Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story’s Director Breaks Down the Show’s Unique Visuals
“The rules were kind of like, ‘Let’s be on acid.’”
COLLIDER: First of all, I just want to say I love Flower. It’s one of my favorite movies.
MAX WINKLER: They’re kind of companion pieces.
They really kind of are, in a way! I am so obsessed with the aesthetic of the show and some of the shots: with the soup, the flash pan where she hits her in the face. How did you develop the visual language for this, and what were some of the inspirations for it?
WINKLER: I love these directors, Powell and Pressburger. They did The Red Shoes and Black Narcissus, and their stuff is very theatrical. It’s lit in a very specific English way with very hot lights. Michael Bauman is the cinematographer. He’s a genius. He was nominated for an Oscar this year, and we did Ed Gein together, and we just wanted it to be kind of berserk and crazy. We had rules, but the rules were kind of like, “Let’s be on acid.” That was why we had the iris thing and why the camera moves so crazy.
I was in film school at USC, and Joe Wright brought Pride & Prejudice to our class. I was really inspired by it because he’s dyslexic, and I’ve always been very, very dyslexic. I loved watching a period piece where you could actually feel the makeup peeling off. I loved that you could feel the sweat, the hair wasn’t perfect, and the furniture was falling apart. And then he did Atonement after that, and the camera moved super deliberately. I thought about Atonement a lot, Age of Innocence, South Park. And then something that was important to me was Noises Off, which is a play and a movie where people are constantly walking in and out of rooms, slamming doors, coming back, and I loved the rhythm of it all.
I feel like that really shines through. Is there a certain shot that you are proudest of?
WINKLER: No, I don’t care about the shots. I try really hard to make them great, and I love the opening, but I’m proudest of the actors. I think the ensemble is so, so good. I love Nancy O’Neill smoking a cigarette, pissing in a chamber pot, and putting in her fake teeth. I love everything Rebecca Hall does. I love Vicky cleaning the couch. I love Ella standing with the tea like a freak. I love Charlie smoking his cigar and getting his feet rubbed. There are so many things I love in it. I wanted the actors to feel really free, and I wanted to protect them so they could do weird stuff and we could just experiment because the scripts are so good. I wanted it to have energy, excitement, and immediacy.
‘Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story’s Director Says the Show Is a Love Story
“When you have an actor who is doing that and surprising you, you want to shoot it.”
I’m so glad you mentioned the couch scene because I love the sort of sexy moments you find in things that are not traditionally sexy. We have that and the cherry bath, which is a little bit bizarre. I’m curious if you can talk about finding the sensuality in these really interesting moments.
WINKLER: I think of the show as a love story between Bridget and Lizzie. That was very much my North Star when we were making it with Ryan and Ian and what we talked about. I could feel their chemistry so strongly. And Vicky is like Greta Garbo. She can just make anything interesting. I didn’t even know that those were the socks that Vicky was gonna wear. Vicky chose those socks and stirrups without telling anybody. That was just her idea, so I’m seeing that for the first time, and then, when you have an actor who is doing that and surprising you, you want to shoot it. That’s what makes it sexy — when she lifts it up and you see that sock. I always knew that I wanted the couch cleaning to have dissolves and to be this very romantic, sexual moment, because we’re in such a repressed time where nobody says what they’re feeling. I wanted Vicky to be the inciting incident — to be the crack in the paint that kind of unlocks the whole thing.
‘Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story’s Director Talks Shooting That Vomit Scene Practically
“It was like preparing for Omaha Beach in Saving Private Ryan.”
I also have to ask about the projectile vomiting.
WINKLER: People are very into that.
I’m just curious how you approach that logistically.
WINKLER: That was difficult. Our best people were on it. It took so long. It was so hard. I was so scared. It was all practical. The editing of it was a beast. Jack Price, our editor, is a genius. Greg Pawlik, our AD, was a genius. Louise Shore, our producer, figured out how we could do as many tests as possible. Ante, our special effects guy, did tests. Rebecca’s terrified of things in her mouth, having to vomit, and being around people who vomit, so that was horrible. Charlie actually ate one of those oysters for me. The diarrhea I’m very proud of because we do a crash zoom on Charlie’s pants in that moment. Ian wrote, “It’s the cardamom,” so when you have an amazing line like that, it all totally makes sense. But it was like preparing for Omaha Beach in Saving Private Ryan. It was so hard, and it was about getting the consistency right — doing it without the vomit, then doing it with the vomit. How far can the vomit go before we lose them? Ryan and I talked about, very early on, that we wanted it to feel like when you go to the Bellagio, and you hear the Andrea Bocelli song and that it was like a symphony, so I hope we did it.
Oh, you absolutely did. Very memorable. This is obviously not the first time you’ve worked on the Monster anthology. Is there a story that you think is ripe for getting the Monster treatment?
WINKLER: I don’t know. I’m always blown away at what Ryan and Ian come up with. I think they’re geniuses and so sensitive and curious that my favorite part of the process is being surprised by them. They were originally going to write about something else, and they were hitting some roadblocks in their creative process. They couldn’t figure out what the way through was. Getting that phone call, I was editing Ed Gein and a day away from starting Love Story. Charlie and Ryan called me, and he said, “What do you know about Lizzie Borden?” I said, “Very little except that I made a movie with Charlie and Jess Barden in Fall River, Massachusetts.” And he said, “Will you read some of these pages for me?” And I said, “I thought you were making a show about so and so.” He said, “Just read it and tell me what you think.” The tone and the deliciousness of it were there. It was perfect in the way that Ian writes and the dramaturgy that comes from Ryan’s brain. That is my favorite part — them saying, “Will you read this?” and getting to be shocked and surprised.
Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story is streaming on Netflix.
- Release Date
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2026 – 2026-00-00
- Network
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Netflix
- Directors
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Max Winkler, Sarah Adina Smith
- Writers
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Ian Brennan
Cast
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Vicky Krieps
Bridget Sullivan
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Ella Beatty
Lizzie Borden
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