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| Shows Like Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story You Must See. |
Netflix’s Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story sits in that particularly addictive corner of crime television where the biggest question is not simply who committed the crime, but what was happening inside the people at the centre of it. If the series’ mix of historical murder, unreliable perspectives, troubled family relationships, psychological tension and women whose lives become tangled in notorious cases has you looking for something similar, there are plenty of shows ready to fill the Lizzie-shaped hole in your viewing schedule.
The 23 series below range from intimate character studies and domestic mysteries to sprawling investigations and real-life crime dramas. Some focus on the accused, others on investigators or victims, but they share the same basic appeal: a crime is only the beginning of the story. Because apparently one shocking death is never enough for television when you can spend eight episodes asking what everyone knew, what everyone lied about and why nobody simply called the police sooner.
Shows Like Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story
1. Alias Grace (2017)
Alias Grace is perhaps the closest match for Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story if what interests you most is the question of whether a woman accused of a notorious crime can ever be fully understood. Sarah Gadon plays Grace Marks, an Irish domestic worker imprisoned for the murders of her employer Thomas Kinnear and his housekeeper Nancy Montgomery in 1843 Canada. Dr Simon Jordan begins speaking with Grace years later, hoping her memories might reveal what really happened.
Like Lizzie Borden, Grace exists at the centre of a historical murder mystery where guilt, memory, identity and perception constantly collide. The series is less interested in giving viewers an easy answer than in making them question every version of events. Grace's position as a working woman under the control of wealthier people also creates a fascinating parallel with Lizzie's own restrictive domestic life.
2. Love & Death (2023)
Love & Death takes viewers into suburban Texas, where Candy Montgomery appears to have an ordinary family life before an affair with her friend Betty Gore's husband changes everything. Elizabeth Olsen plays Candy, while Lily Rabe portrays Betty in a drama that gradually turns a seemingly peaceful community into the setting for a shocking murder investigation.
Its similarities with Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story are particularly obvious in the way a woman becomes the central figure in a notorious real-life case. Both series look beyond the headline crime to examine frustration, relationships, social expectations and the private lives hidden behind respectable homes. The fact that everyone initially looks fairly normal only makes the eventual revelations considerably messier.
3. Candy (2022)
Candy tells the same infamous Texas case from another dramatic perspective, with Jessica Biel playing Candy Montgomery. Her carefully structured suburban existence begins to unravel after she becomes involved with Allan Gore, the husband of her friend Betty. When Betty is found dead, Candy's apparently conventional life becomes the focus of an investigation.
The connection to Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story comes through the combination of domestic life, female identity and a real murder case. Both productions ask viewers to look at the person behind the accusation rather than treating the crime as an isolated event. There is also the uncomfortable irony of watching ordinary social routines continue right alongside something deeply disturbing, which is practically crime-drama catnip.
4. The Staircase (2022)
The Staircase begins with Kathleen Peterson found dead at the bottom of the staircase in her North Carolina home, leaving her husband Michael Peterson at the centre of a complicated investigation. Colin Firth plays Michael, while Toni Collette portrays Kathleen in a series that keeps returning to the question of what actually happened inside the family home.
Like Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story, it turns a private residence into the centre of an enormous mystery. The people closest to the victim become the ones viewers scrutinise most closely, while contradictory evidence makes certainty increasingly difficult. It also understands that the most fascinating part of a crime story can sometimes be everything that happens after the original discovery.
5. The Act (2019)
The Act explores the deeply complicated relationship between Gypsy Rose Blanchard and her mother Dee Dee, with Joey King and Patricia Arquette taking on the central roles. Gypsy grows up under her mother's intense control while being presented to the outside world as a seriously ill child. As she becomes older, she starts questioning the life constructed around her.
The series shares Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story's interest in controlling family relationships and women pushed towards desperate decisions. In both stories, the home is not simply a backdrop but a major part of the characters' problems. The truth emerges gradually, and the audience is forced to reconsider who has power over whom. It is uncomfortable viewing, but that discomfort is very much part of the point.
6. Under the Banner of Heaven (2022)
Andrew Garfield stars as Detective Jeb Pyre in Under the Banner of Heaven, a crime drama following the investigation into the deaths of Brenda Wright Lafferty and her young daughter. The case draws Pyre into a religious community whose beliefs and internal divisions challenge everything he previously understood about the people around him.
Its similarity to Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story lies in its combination of a real case, psychological conflict and questions about how belief shapes behaviour. The investigation becomes increasingly personal for Pyre, while the audience is encouraged to examine the environment surrounding the crime rather than simply waiting for a culprit to be identified. It is crime television with a philosophical hangover.
7. Rillington Place (2016)
Rillington Place revisits the crimes associated with John Christie in postwar London, with Tim Roth playing Christie and Samantha Morton portraying his wife Ethel. The series explores the murders committed around 10 Rillington Place while also examining the devastating consequences for people caught up in the case.
Much like Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story, the show uses a historical crime to explore the people living behind the headlines. The house becomes a crucial part of the story, creating an unsettling connection with the Borden residence. The use of different perspectives also makes the viewer question how much anyone really knows about the person living behind the next door.
8. The Alienist (2018–2020)
Set in 1896 New York, The Alienist follows criminal psychologist Dr Laszlo Kreizler as he investigates a series of murders alongside newspaper illustrator John Moore, Sara Howard and the Isaacson brothers. Daniel Brühl, Luke Evans and Dakota Fanning lead a team attempting to understand the pattern behind crimes that conventional investigators struggle to explain.
The historical setting makes it an especially natural companion to Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story. Both shows use crime as a way to examine changing ideas about psychology, society and human behaviour. The investigations are important, but so is the period itself. And because this is nineteenth-century New York, apparently everyone has either a secret, a questionable moustache or both.
9. Des (2020)
David Tennant stars as Dennis Nilsen in Des, following the investigation that begins when human remains are discovered at a London property in 1983. Rather than relying on a conventional mystery structure, the series focuses heavily on the investigation and the unsettling conversations between Nilsen and those trying to understand the scale of his crimes.
Like Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story, Des is interested in the psychology surrounding a notorious real-life case rather than turning everything into a straightforward detective puzzle. The restrained approach makes the characters and conversations carry much of the tension. There are no grand action sequences needed when a room, a question and an uncomfortable answer can do the job.
10. The Serpent (2021)
The Serpent follows Charles Sobhraj, played by Tahar Rahim, as he moves through 1970s Asia while targeting travellers and repeatedly evading detection. Jenna Coleman plays Marie-Andrée Leclerc, while Billy Howle portrays Dutch diplomat Herman Knippenberg, whose investigation gradually uncovers a disturbing pattern.
The series connects with Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story through its focus on notorious real cases, complex personalities and the investigative process. Both are interested in how an individual can appear different depending on who is looking at them. The shifting perspectives also prevent the story from becoming a simple portrait of good investigators versus an obvious villain.
11. The Long Shadow (2023)
The Long Shadow examines the police investigation into the crimes of Peter Sutcliffe in Yorkshire and Manchester between 1975 and 1980. Toby Jones leads the cast as DCS Dennis Hoban, while the series also spends considerable time with victims, survivors and families affected by the investigation.
Where Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story digs into the psychological and personal dimensions surrounding one historical case, The Long Shadow expands that idea across a much larger investigation. Both show how crime affects people far beyond the person accused, while resisting the temptation to treat a notorious case as mere entertainment. The result is grim, character-driven television rather than a simple whodunit.
12. The Girl from Plainville (2022)
Elle Fanning stars as Michelle Carter in The Girl from Plainville, a drama inspired by the case surrounding Conrad Roy III's death and the messages exchanged between the two teenagers. The series moves between their relationship and the legal aftermath, gradually revealing how their communications became central to the case.
The connection to Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story comes from the way both series examine the gap between public perception and private behaviour. Rather than presenting the central figure as a simple character type, the drama spends time exploring relationships, motivations and conflicting interpretations of events. It is another case where understanding what happened requires looking well beyond the headline.
13. Sharp Objects (2018)
Amy Adams stars in Sharp Objects as journalist Camille Preaker, who returns to her Missouri hometown to investigate the disappearance and deaths of young girls. Her professional assignment quickly becomes entangled with her own troubled family history, particularly her relationship with her mother Adora and younger half-sister Amma.
This is an excellent follow-up for viewers drawn to the female-centred psychological mystery of Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story. The crimes matter, but the family dynamics are just as important, with old wounds, buried secrets and complicated relationships constantly reshaping what viewers think they understand. It is also proof that returning home is almost never a good idea in prestige television.
14. Mare of Easttown (2021)
Kate Winslet plays Mare Sheehan, a detective investigating the death of a young woman in a small Pennsylvania community while dealing with a series of personal problems of her own. The investigation gradually exposes secrets involving friends, families and neighbours who initially appear to know nothing about the case.
Like Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story, Mare of Easttown combines a murder investigation with an intimate examination of the people surrounding it. The community feels almost like another character, with everyone carrying some history that could change the investigation. It also understands that a detective can be investigating other people's secrets while struggling to keep their own life from falling apart.
15. The Sinner (2017–2021)
The Sinner repeatedly begins with an apparently straightforward crime before asking the much more interesting question: why did it happen? The first season follows Detective Harry Ambrose as he investigates Cora Tannetti, a woman whose sudden act of violence seems inexplicable even to herself.
That structure makes it a natural recommendation for Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story. The series is less interested in stopping at the obvious evidence and more concerned with memory, trauma, hidden motivations and psychological complexity. Every answer creates another question, which is exactly how these shows manage to make one episode turn into six before anyone remembers they have work tomorrow.
16. The Undoing (2020)
Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant lead The Undoing, which begins when a wealthy New York family's seemingly comfortable life collapses following a murder. Grace Fraser, a successful therapist, finds her husband Jonathan at the centre of questions surrounding the case, forcing her to reconsider how well she actually knows the person beside her.
The show shares the Borden story's fascination with wealthy or respectable domestic environments concealing deeply complicated relationships. The home becomes a place where appearances matter enormously, while the investigation slowly chips away at the polished image presented to outsiders. If you enjoy crime mysteries where every character looks suspicious for entirely different reasons, this one understands the assignment.
17. Black Bird (2022)
Black Bird follows Jimmy Keene, played by Taron Egerton, after he receives an unusual opportunity to gain information from suspected killer Larry Hall, portrayed by Paul Walter Hauser. The drama shifts between prison conversations and the investigation surrounding Hall's possible involvement in disappearances.
Although the structure is different from Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story, both series focus heavily on trying to understand what drives someone accused of serious crimes. The conversations between Jimmy and Larry become the engine of the story, creating a tense character study where understanding another person becomes almost as important as gathering evidence.
18. Mindhunter (2017–2019)
Mindhunter follows FBI agents Holden Ford and Bill Tench as they begin interviewing imprisoned killers to develop a deeper understanding of criminal behaviour. Jonathan Groff, Holt McCallany and Anna Torv lead a series that mixes fictional characters with real historical figures.
For viewers interested in the psychological side of Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story, this is an obvious companion. Instead of focusing on one notorious case, Mindhunter examines how investigators began studying patterns, motives and behaviour in a more systematic way. Its greatest weapon is conversation, which sounds terribly boring until you realise two people sitting across a table can somehow become more unnerving than an entire chase sequence.
19. Unbelievable (2019)
Unbelievable follows two female detectives, played by Toni Collette and Merritt Wever, as they investigate a series of connected crimes after a young woman is dismissed when her account is questioned. The story moves between the victim's experience and the detectives' increasingly focused investigation.
The series shares Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story's interest in how institutions, assumptions and personal perceptions can shape an investigation. It also places women at the heart of the story without reducing them to a single role within the case. The procedural elements are strong, but the emotional consequences remain just as important.
20. The Fall (2013–2016)
Gillian Anderson stars as Detective Superintendent Stella Gibson, who is brought to Belfast to investigate a series of murders. Jamie Dornan plays Paul Spector, whose carefully maintained public identity becomes increasingly difficult to separate from the crimes being investigated.
Like Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story, The Fall gives considerable attention to the contrast between public identity and private behaviour. Stella's investigation is methodical, while the series spends time examining the person under scrutiny rather than simply turning him into a faceless threat. That dual perspective gives the drama a psychological edge that will appeal to viewers who prefer character over spectacle.
21. The Night Of (2016)
The Night Of begins when Nasir Khan, played by Riz Ahmed, wakes after a night with a woman who is later found dead. What follows is an increasingly complicated journey through the criminal justice system, with John Turturro playing lawyer John Stone.
The similarities with Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story come through the uncertainty surrounding what actually happened and how quickly suspicion can transform someone's entire life.
The series is less concerned with delivering easy answers than with showing how evidence, perception and circumstance interact. One unfortunate night becomes an enormous legal nightmare, because apparently television has decided sleep is optional.
22. The Thing About Pam (2022)
Renée Zellweger takes on the role of Pam Hupp in The Thing About Pam, a series inspired by the investigation surrounding the death of Betsy Faria in Missouri. What initially appears to be a straightforward case gradually becomes more complicated as investigators uncover inconsistencies and relationships that do not quite fit the original picture.
Its connection to Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story lies in the way an apparently ordinary community and domestic setting can hide an unusually complicated case. The series also places its central woman under intense scrutiny while exploring how people construct public identities around themselves. The tone is somewhat more playful than Monster, but underneath that surface is the same fascination with how real cases become increasingly difficult to untangle.
23. Under the Bridge (2024)
Under the Bridge dramatises the disappearance and death of teenager Reena Virk, with Riley Keough and Lily Gladstone leading a story that examines the people and community surrounding the case. The series moves beyond the central investigation to explore friendships, social pressures and the different perspectives of those connected to the tragedy.
For fans of Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story, its appeal comes from the combination of a real case, multiple perspectives and a strong character-driven approach. Rather than treating the investigation as an isolated puzzle, the series looks at the environment that surrounds the people involved and the consequences that continue long after the original event. It is another reminder that the most complicated mysteries are often the ones where everyone remembers the same events differently.
If Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story works for you because it refuses to make its central mystery simple, these shows are a pretty reliable rabbit hole. Alias Grace, Sharp Objects and The Sinner are particularly strong if the psychological side is what keeps you watching, while The Staircase, Candy, Love & Death and Under the Bridge offer that irresistible “this really happened” quality.
Mindhunter and The Fall take a colder investigative route, whereas Mare of Easttown and The Night Of put more weight on the people left dealing with the consequences. What ties the whole selection together is the willingness to let characters remain complicated rather than handing viewers a neat explanation with a bow on it. And honestly, that is where the fun is. If you have watched Monster, tell me which of these feels closest to Lizzie’s story, and which series deserves a place on the next watchlist.