Despite the criticism it always stirs up, Netflix’s disturbing American true crime series Monster just keeps pulling audiences back in, says streaming columnist NICK OVERALL.

This month, the fourth instalment in Ryan Murphy’s dark anthology show Monster hits Netflix. 

For those unfamiliar, each season focuses on and dramatises the true story of an infamous murderer, while exploring the broken lives that lead to their crimes. 

The first season, which released in 2022, honed in on Jeffrey Dahmer, a serial killer throughout the 1980s who claimed the lives of 17 victims.

Then in 2024 the show explored the notorious case of the Menendez brothers, two wealthy young men living in Beverly Hills, California, who killed their parents with a shotgun.

Just last year there was the Ed Gein story, the tale of a horrifying grave robber so prolific in Wisconsin in the ’40s and ‘50s he earned the title “the butcher of Plainfield” and went on to inspire some of the 20th century’s most disturbing horror films such as Psycho and Silence of the Lambs.

All very happy then.

Each time Monster comes out with a new season heated debate is ignited about the way it creates spectacle of these real-life deaths 

The families of some of Dahmer’s victims said the show retraumatised them and that they were never consulted.

Others have called the slick production value downright exploitative.

One thing that can’t be denied: it is very well made and it’s part of why viewers keep coming back for more, no matter how harrowing things get.

With its fourth season, Monster takes a new turn, focusing on its first “alleged” female serial killer, Lizzie Borden.

I say alleged because Borden was never actually convicted of the murders that made her famous.

In 1893 at her Massachusetts home, Borden’s father and stepmother were found dead with dozens of axe wounds between them. 

Lizzie, 32 at the time, was named the main suspect after investigators found her father and her stepmother were murdered 90 minutes apart, making it seem impossible that an intruder was somehow hiding inside the house without Lizzie noticing.

She also had quite the motive, something I won’t spoil for those interested in watching the series, nor will I say how despite all of that she was eventually acquitted of the murders 

Monster, however, heavily assumes Lizzie was indeed guilty and leans into it, rather than exploring the ambiguity of the trial.

Winding back the clock to the late 1800s adds a new layer of intrigue to the show helping to keep things fresh, but perhaps it also comes with another motive.

By going back further in time Monster has created some substantial distance from the victims and those these crimes impacted, this time shielding it from some of the intense heat its copped previously. 

Once again frightening in its subject matter and frighteningly well made, the fourth season of Monster is likely to be another season that’s hard to watch yet impossible for audiences to look away from. 

ON a lighter note this week, Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey are reuniting on screen for a new comedy series on Apple TV Plus.

The duo became incredibly popular together after their appearance in the 2014 crime drama series True Detective.

Playing two moody cops on the case of a serial killer (a fictional one), their on screen rapport was electric and has resulted in wide calls for more collaborations.

Certainly their performances were helped by the fact both had been great friends for about 15 years before filming and had indeed worked on sets together before.

Their new show brings them back but it’s certainly a far cry from True Detective.

Brothers is a comedy series loosely based on their friendship in which the two play fictionalised versions of themselves.

The story opens when down and out on his luck, Woody moves in with Matt at his Texas ranch.

McConaughey, of course, wants to do the right thing by his long-time friendship, but it turns out moving in together may push it to the very brink.

Things get more complicated. McConaughey’s mum revealed the two may actually be half-brothers. 

In anyone else’s hands the premise probably wouldn’t hold up, but with these two front and centre there’s a real chance for this to prove quite alright, alright, alright. 

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