- [footsteps running]
[quick string music rises]
Where's Father? I need to see Father!
- Miss Borden, you shouldn't go in there.
- I need to see Father!
[officer] Wait, stop!
[flashbulb pops]
[man] And one more.
[door creaks open, slams shut]
[crackling flashbulb resonates]
[somber music playing]
[muffled whooshing]
[Emma screams] No!
Father!
[softly] Are you writing that down?
[slow footfalls approaching]
[quietly sobbing]
No! [crying]
[unsettling tones rise steadily]
The really important thing
is to make a thumb-sized hole
in the middle of each cookie.
Like this.
And you fill them with any kind
of fruit preserve that you like the best.
For me, it's cherries from my allée.
[Maggie] Lizzie?
- [Lizzie] Yes?
- I think you should sit down.
No, I think I'd like
to keep my hands busy.
And then you fill each cookie...
with a bit of fruit jam,
and it bakes off lovely.
Ah! Um...
[door squeaks]
Ah...
I'll just let these cool,
and everybody can have one or... a few.
As many as you...
Lizzie.
Sister.
- [screams] How could you?
- [Lizzie gasping]
[officer] Wait! Ladies, please!
This is all your f*cking fault!
[Lizzie] Emma! What are you doing?
- Lying, conniving b*tch!
- Miss Borden, stop!
And you! You plotting, scheming,
Kraut-Mick horse p*ssy!
- [officer] Miss Borden! Ladies!
- I think you're under shock, Miss Borden!
I'll prove it! You're a monster!
I won't rest until I prove it!
[fading] You're a monster!
- [flashbulb pops]
- [ominous music playing]
[overlapping shouts]
[music fades]
[shouting grows muted]
- [flashbulbs popping]
- [somber music playing]
[muted shouts rising]
[door creaking]
[shouting continues]
[melody to "Lizzie Borden" rhyme playing]
[deputy] Careful.
[door creaking]
[deputy] This way.
[cuffs clinking]
Good day, Miss Borden. I'm Ms. Meade.
I'm the matron here at Taunton Jail.
I'll be looking after you.
Hello.
Am I to change clothes?
No. You can wear that if you'd like.
But as you've not yet
been convicted of any crime,
you can wear what you'd like
as your trial progresses.
How long will I be here?
You might be here a very long time indeed.
But... Miss Borden,
as you are a mistress of no little means,
your stay here needn't be too trying.
Your meals will be sent
from the city hotel
and the daily newspaper forwarded to you.
[bird chirping]
[exclaims]
[birds singing]
This is how I shall spend my days.
[breezy classical music plays]
[door opening]
Good morning.
How long have you been awake?
Since dawn.
[piano music fades out]
[clinking]
[Ms. Meade] Fish hash today,
as it's Friday.
[Lizzie] That's all right, Ms. Meade.
You enjoy it.
There's a red bird in that tree.
A cardinal.
His song is always first.
It sounds like he's saying,
"What cheer, what cheer!"
What a magnificent summer it's become.
I wish I could be outside.
With my cherry trees.
Hm.
Has a Bridget... called on me?
Bridget Sullivan?
She also goes by Maggie.
Or Margaret.
[water rippling]
[soft panting]
No.
There is someone
who has requested a visit.
[raucous shouting]
[dissonant notes playing]
[deputy] Ladies.
[shrill tones fade]
I'm going to ask you one last time.
Did you do it?
Can we please speak of other things?
Your story makes no sense, Lizzie.
Answer me.
Answer me!
No.
I didn't.
I've arrived at a kind of impasse.
Because when I hear your protestations,
I simply don't believe you.
I believe you k*lled our father.
[chair creaking]
There's something I never told you.
When Mother was dying,
I was called to her bedside.
I made her a promise.
To protect you, Lizzie.
And I am here to honor that promise.
But, Lizzie,
you are making this very difficult.
I have met your lawyers,
and your case is terrible.
Your inquest was a disaster.
Your lawyers can't even begin
to craft a narrative from it.
Why?
Because each time you told the story,
it was different.
- [pensive music playing]
- I heard a moan, and I ran downstairs.
- But you said you were out back.
- Yes.
I was vomiting all morning.
We all were. I couldn't keep a thing down.
So you picked some fruit?
- Yes.
- And you stayed out in the heat to eat it?
[lips smack]
Yes.
Uh, except for when I went out back
to look for some sinkers. I think I...
[clears throat] I mentioned that before.
[prosecutor] For a fishing trip,
for which you had no fishing line,
you just... thought
you'd look for some sinkers.
Yes.
[music fades]
Just say it was that Mick d*ke,
and I'll give you an alibi
that will save your life.
I can't.
Lizzie, please.
I need something to hold on to.
Just say that it was her,
and we'll be free.
It wasn't me.
And it wasn't her.
How do you know? If it wasn't you,
then it could have been her.
- Just say that it was!
- No. I won't move one inch.
Never.
You're going to regret this.
If it's the last thing I do,
you're going to live to regret this.
[melancholy music plays softly]
- [grunting]
- [whacking]
[shouting]
[screaming]
[melancholy music fades slowly]
[Emma panting]
[music stops]
[Lizzie] I don't understand.
Because you're notorious, Lizzie,
there's an incentive for anyone
overhearing your conversations
to forward them to the newspapers.
So... I spoke to the judge, and he agreed,
you could meet your lawyers
someplace more private.
[light chattering]
[horse neighs]
Thank you.
Anyone with eyes can see you're innocent.
Miss Borden,
your lawyers will be here within the hour.
[door opening]
[creaking]
[deputy] This way. Over here.
[faint crowd chatter]
[man yells] You're going to hell, Lizzie!
You're going to hell!
[indistinct shouting]
[door creaks]
[slams shut]
[somber music rises slowly]
[rustling]
[music fades]
[horse neighs]
[solemn music playing]
[crowd cheering and clapping]
[man] Oh! Miss O'Neil!
[woman] Oh, Miss O'Neil!
Thank you, good day to you all.
Ah!
Look!
'Tis Pity She's a wh*re.
[kissing]
I think not!
[whooping and whistling]
- [music fades]
- [crowd noise dies down]
Thank you, Officer.
[door creaking]
[door shuts]
[man speaking indistinctly]
[man] If you prefer,
we can put you on the stand.
Or... the top of page two.
That's the...
Nance?
These are my lawyers.
- Hello.
- Hello, ma'am.
Gentlemen, I'm sure you already know,
but this is Nance O'Neil.
Gentlemen, I wonder if you might allow
Miss Borden and I some privacy.
Certainly.
We'll continue tomorrow.
Lizzie.
Good day, ma'am.
[door creaks open]
[door shuts]
Are these cuttings from a cherry tree?
Yes.
My spiteful sister chopped them down,
but I'm forcing the buds.
I'll save them.
We need to talk.
[cork pops]
Ahh!
Lizzie, I know more
than you might imagine about your case.
[Lizzie] How?
I f*cked the bailiff.
- [moaning and grunting]
- [classical piano tune playing]
Lizzie, you're in trouble.
Your inquest was insane.
My insatiable bailiff beau
told me all about it.
He told me everything I wanted to know,
needed to know.
[prosecutor] If you were upstairs
when your father returned,
you would have walked past
your dead mother.
I didn't see her
because I was downstairs in the kitchen.
But you said you came downstairs
when you heard your father come in.
Yes.
So, you were upstairs!
No, I was downstairs.
Well, I was very confused.
I had been drugged to calm my nerves.
I had just walked in on my father
and stepmother m*rder*d--
Don't lie to me, Lizzie.
You may have been drugged,
but you weren't confused.
You're just a bad actor.
What on earth do you mean?
- [glass bangs]
- See? Not buying it.
I know you did it.
And I know you had your reasons.
I saw how they treated you.
Your beast of a stepmother.
Your alcoholic of a father,
and that was reason enough,
as far as I'm concerned.
I sensed your rage
the moment I laid eyes on you.
It's what... drew me to you.
Do you know who I based
my most recent triumph on
when I slayed them as Lady M
in the great Scottish play?
Do you know who I based my performance on?
You.
Mine was a Lady M
of quiet, burning, indignant anger.
She can't help
but push her husband to act,
as she is so stifled
as a woman in a world of men,
she herself is desperate to m*rder.
[exhales]
If I don't teach you a few tricks,
you're going to burn.
I don't want that for you, and...
I don't want that for me.
You are the most famous woman
in the world, and
I intend to be just as famous.
If I save you,
will you help me do that?
Be my patron?
My benefactor?
Yes.
[stirring music plays]
Lesson one.
You must learn to make an entrance.
As you walk into the room,
as the trial of the century begins,
let them see... a lady.
You don't deserve to be here,
but you're glad, as it is your opportunity
to show every man, woman, and child
what a great lady looks like.
Begin.
Yes.
Again.
Guilty. Boo! [hisses]
Again!
Back in character, please.
A vision of mourning,
but you find the courage to carry on.
Better. Again!
[doors creaking]
[quick classical music plays]
Head down.
[indistinct whispering]
[music slows and fades]
Better, Lizzie. Better.
When you take your seat,
it's as if you are alighting
onto a throne.
Back straight.
[intriguing music plays]
Legs crossed, then tucked.
Show a little ankle.
And once you are seated?
Look to nobody.
Not to the gallery, not to the judge.
Look only
to the jury.
[poignant music plays]
You're famous, Lizzie.
You're not like them, and
they know it.
Show them it is your pleasure,
as a goddess,
to delight amongst mortal men.
Turn to them.
Smile.
Now turn away.
Don't regard them again.
They have a job to do.
[music turns grim]
[music fades]
Lesson two.
Lizzie, they are preparing the skulls
of your father and stepmother as evidence.
My bailiff told me.
They have been stripped of flesh and gore
to show the violence of the axe wounds.
Lizzie.
When you see the skulls,
you must faint.
Mm...
[exhales gruffly]
[thudding]
It's the most sympathetic
and vulnerable thing that a woman can do.
It suggests to the jury
that you are innocent.
If you can't stand the sight of it now,
how could you have done it then?
How could you have kept chopping?
[clears throat]
[breathes deeply]
[exhales softly]
No!
Too theatrical.
It must look
real.
[exhales gruffly]
[thudding]
When one faints,
one's whole organism goes... limp.
Again!
[sighs weakly]
Again!
No!
Be loose at the knees like a puppet
whose strings have been cut and fall.
[sighs softly]
- Better.
- [thudding]
- Pow!
- [exhales]
Yes!
That's the one.
[stirring music plays]
[chair scraping]
[prosecutor] I must apologize
for what you're about to see.
But I assure you,
the spectacle
is an utmost necessity to my case.
[overlapping hushed chatter]
Gentlemen of the jury...
this is what she did.
- [onlookers gasping]
- [hushed chattering]
[inhales sharply]
[exhales gruffly]
- [crowd gasps]
- [man] Stand back!
[prosecutor] She is a m*rder*r.
- [gavel bangs]
- [judge] Order!
Lizzie Borden is a liar!
I ask that you send her to her death.
- [judge] Order!
- [gavel banging]
[prosecutor] This woman should not be
allowed to roam free to m*rder again.
[judge] Order!
[prosecutor] We have proven
without... a shadow of a doubt
that Lizzie Borden m*rder*d
her parents in her home.
[gavel banging]
- [prosecutor] Please!
- [judge] Order! Order!
- [man] Madam? Give her some room.
- Sir! I'm sorry. This woman is a liar!
- Is there a physician?
- She should be put to death.
[man] Are you okay?
I'm all right. I'm all right.
Is there a physician in the courtroom?
Third, Lizzie, and this is important.
You can't take the stand.
So you must show them just once
that you are flesh and blood.
You must cry, Lizzie.
Right. Of course.
[somber music builds slowly]
[breathes deeply]
No!
Someone has taken an axe
and cleaved you open.
Start low, like a great golden goose
dipped into a lake of fire!
The prosecution calls
Emma Borden to the stand.
[low indistinct chattering]
Miss Borden.
You are estranged from your sister,
are you not?
[somber music rises]
Miss Borden?
Are you not?
[crying quietly]
[prosecutor] Miss Borden,
are you not
estranged from your sister?
[sobbing deeply]
That is entirely untrue.
There is no one closer
to my sister than I.
And she is innocent.
[scattered courtroom reactions]
- [prosecutor] Your Honor...
- [judge] Order!
She couldn't have k*lled our father
and Mrs. Borden.
[man] ...may I have
a moment with my client?
I saw a man try to break into our house
the week before the murders.
A terrifying, pale man with an axe.
And two little children
saw this man the day of the murders.
Where are these children?
Why not bring them here
instead of torturing
the very victims of this man's crimes?
[prosecutor] Your Honor, please.
And as for the sinkers,
this fishing trip was my idea.
But this, this...
I told Lizzie that she and I
should go fishing that very week.
I did. And, and, and...
And would she please do me the favor
of trying to find these sinkers
that... that I knew were outside?
[prosecutor] But-- No!
This contradicts
your sister's sworn inquest.
- My sister was drugged.
-
Morphine gave that inquest.
- Why do you accuse her?
- [gavel banging]
- [crowd exclaiming]
- What are you talking about?!
Your Honor, a moment, please?
- [overlapping chatter]
- [bright music playing]
[prosecutor] This is not at all
the discussion we had behind closed doors.
[judge] Order!
- [gavel banging]
- [judge] Order!
[prosecutor] May we have
a recess, Your Honor?
[elegant waltz music playing]
[muffled banging]
[no audible dialogue]
[waltz music fades out]
Well, we heard both sides.
Let's get an idea of where we stand.
Who votes to convict?
To acquit.
There's just no way
a woman could have done that.
- Yeah.
- Mm-hm.
Well, I think it was a Portuguee.
Had to be.
When can we get alcohol again?
Well, I feel we can't just...
call the judge right back in.
Let's sally forth
and continue playing, men.
For an hour.
["Sull'aria ... che soave zeffiretto"
from Mozart's "Le nozze di Figaro" plays]
[woman singing soprano]
Has the jury reached a verdict?
[chair creaks]
We have, Your Honor.
And when they read out the verdict,
do exactly as I say.
Miss Borden, please stand.
[voices harmonizing in duet]
[judge] In the case
of The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
versus Lizzie Andrew Borden,
how does the jury find the defendant?
Let the winds of victory fill your sails,
and blow away every mote of resentment.
You must be gracious and grandiose.
We find the defendant...
[rising voices harmonizing in duet]
...not guilty.
[overlapping shouts and chattering]
[drumbeat kicks up]
[The Rolling Stones' "The Last Time"
by Andrew Oldham Orchestra playing]
And to the jury,
make sure you vary the inflection.
I wish you well.
I wish you well.
I wish you well.
I wish you well.
I wish you well.
I wish you well.
I wish you well.
I wish you well.
I wish you well.
How will I ever repay you?
Just... repay me.
This court is adjourned.
[indistinct overlapping shouts]
[flashes pop]
Lizzie Borden should hang on a rope!
It's just wrong! Wrong!
This is impossible! Lies!
- Whoo-ha!
- [flash pops]
Step aside!
Give her some room!
What is this?
Flash powder. Those are photographs.
- For me?
- Yes.
Miss Borden has time
for just a few questions.
- How does it feel?
- What will you do now?
[percussion rhythm slowly fades out]
I want to say thank you to you all.
I'm relieved and heartened to see
that justice was done today.
The tragedy done unto my family
can never be undone.
But perhaps now my sister and I
can usher in a season of healing.
And kindness.
For people and for animals.
[onlooker clears throat]
That's what I'd like to do now.
To begin the project of making
my heart and soul and home a place
where no living creature need feel fear.
[light clapping]
- [flash pops]
- [horse neighs]
- [whooping]
- [light chuckling]
[light clapping]
Thank you all.
[crowd chattering]
- Lizzie.
- [flash pops]
[orchestral rendition of
"The Last Time" resumes playing]
[shouting indistinctly]
Boo!
[woman] Lizzie.
- [overlapping shouts]
- [flashes popping]
[crowd noise fades]
[horse neighs]
[carriage wheels rolling]
["The Last Time" continues playing]
[music fades]