’Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story’s Director on Practically Shooting That “Extremely Difficult” Scene

2 hours ago 11

Published Sep 22, 2026, 11:12 PM EDT

Taylor Gates is an Indiana native who earned her BFA in Creative Writing from the University of Evansville. She fell in love with entertainment by watching shows about chaotic families like Full House, The Nanny, Gilmore Girls, and The Fosters.

After college, she moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career as a writer, editor, and filmmaker. Today, she’s a sucker for dramedies — especially coming-of-age stories centering around complex female and LGBTQ+ characters. She has been with Collider since May 2022.

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.

Collider Exclusive · 8 Questions · 2 Minutes What Is Your Biggest Horror Nightmare? Elm Street · Chucky · Scream · The Conjuring

Four horror franchises. Four completely different ways of scaring you. One waits until you fall asleep. One makes sure nobody believes you. One is already in your group of friends. And one is in the house with your family. Answer eight quick questions about how you actually watch horror, and find out which nightmare was built for you.

😴Elm Street(Freddy Krueger)

🧸Chucky(Child's Play)

📞Scream(Ghostface)

🕯️The Conjuring(The Warren Files)

FIND YOUR NIGHTMARE →

Which horror scene makes you cover your eyes? Four classic images. One of them is worse than the others for you.

ASomebody falling asleep when they really should not. BA toy that has moved, and nobody touched it. CA phone ringing in an empty house. DA child talking to somebody who is not there.

NEXT QUESTION →

You are home alone and you hear a noise. First thought? Everybody has one. It arrives before you have decided anything.

AI am exhausted and my mind is playing tricks on me. BSomething in this room is not where I left it. CSomebody is in here with me. DThis house has never felt entirely right.

NEXT QUESTION →

Which horror movie rule would you break first? Everybody thinks they would survive. Almost nobody actually does.

ANever fall asleep. BNever leave it out of your sight. CNever answer the phone. DNever go down to the basement.

NEXT QUESTION →

Something genuinely frightening happens. What do you do? Not in a film. In your actual living room, tonight.

AConvince myself I imagined the whole thing. BTell someone, and brace for them not believing me. CWork out which person I know could be behind it. DGet everybody in the house into one room.

NEXT QUESTION →

How do you actually watch a horror film? Be honest about this one. Nobody is checking.

AFine during. Wide awake at two in the morning. BShouting at the screen that nobody is listening. CCalling the twist out loud before it lands. DThrough my fingers, holding on to something.

NEXT QUESTION →

Somebody offers you serious money. Which do you still refuse? The amount does not matter. There is one on this list you are not doing.

AFall asleep in a room I have never been in before. BKeep an old doll on the shelf facing my bed. CAnswer every unknown number that calls after midnight. DSpend one night alone in a house with a history.

NEXT QUESTION →

Which feeling stays with you a week after the film? Good horror does not stop when the credits do.

ANot wanting to turn the bedroom light off. BNot trusting one particular object in my house. CLooking twice at people I have known for years. DFeeling like something came home with me.

NEXT QUESTION →

Something wakes you at 3am. What is the worst possibility? Eight questions in, this is the one that decides your nightmare.

AThat I am still asleep, and it knows it. BThat the thing nobody believed me about is here. CThat somebody with a key is downstairs. DThat something is in the doorway, watching us sleep.

REVEAL MY NIGHTMARE →

The Lights Just Went Out Your Nightmare Is…

Four franchises, four completely different ways of getting underneath your skin. This is the one built out of your particular fear, why it works so well on you, and what it would leave behind.

Elm Street

Your nightmare does not wait outside the door. It waits for you to close your eyes, which you are going to have to do eventually, because nobody has ever won that particular argument.

Freddy is horror's cruellest idea: a threat that lives in the one place you cannot guard, cannot lock, and cannot avoid forever.
You are the one who is fine during the film and wide awake at two in the morning. Your own head is where this does its damage.
These films understood exhaustion as a horror engine. The kids on Elm Street do not lose because they are weak. They lose because they are tired.
You can lock every door in the house. You still have to sleep.

Chucky

Your nightmare is not really the doll. It is the face of the person you tell, and the way they decide, very kindly, that you have imagined all of it.

Chucky works precisely because he is absurd. That is the trap: the more accurately you describe him, the less anybody is going to believe you.
You are the one shouting at the screen because the characters are not listening. You know that feeling from real life too.
The franchise is at its best when the adults in the room are the real obstacle, and you have met those adults.
By the time somebody finally believes you, you will have handled most of it on your own.

Scream

Your nightmare has your number, knows your name, and has almost certainly been inside your house before. The worst part is that you already know them.

Scream is the only one of these where the killer takes the mask off and turns out to be somebody who was at the party.
You are the person who calls the twist out loud before it lands. You watch people the same way you watch films.
The franchise made the rules of horror part of the plot, which means the survivors are the ones paying attention. You would be paying attention.
Everybody is a suspect, including the person who just offered to walk you home.

The Conjuring

Your nightmare is not really about you. It is about the people asleep down the hall, and the feeling that whatever is here is not interested in leaving.

The Conjuring films are domestic horror. The house, the family, the perfectly ordinary room that quietly stops feeling ordinary.
Your instinct is to get everybody into one room. Your fear is protective rather than personal, which is rarer than it sounds.
This is the one franchise where belief is the weapon. The people who come through it are the ones who are not alone and refuse to be.
Whatever is here did not come for you. It came for the household, and you are the one standing in the hallway.

↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ

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.”

Monster-The-Lizzie-Borden-Story-Ian-Brennan-interview

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.