"LIZZIE".........ANOTHER AX TO GRIND........

Lizzie (2018)    After yesterday's descent into the pulp tripe of "Peppermint", once again it's time to swing back into the other,  equally punishing end of the cinema spectrum........the uppercrust Film Festival award-beggar........(a tossup as to which end is worse to sit through....)

              If you've worked your way through enough films and books about Lizzie Borden, the 19th century O.J., you know all the usual suspects......Lizzie, her sister Emma,  the Irish maid Bridget Sullivan, Lizzie's cold-hearted father and grim stepmother and her creepy uncle John.

               Every author and filmmaker has done their own take on which of this bunch made mincemeat of  Mr. and Mrs. Borden with an ax.......feel free to form your own conclusion......

                To its credit, "Lizzie" heavily dwells on woeful state of womanhood in the 19th century, the second class citizenship, the domination of men......all of it slowly but surely fueling the slow boiling rage of Lizzie, finely planed here by Chloe Sevigny.

                More than matching Sevigny in repressed emotions and sexuality is Kristen Stewart' as the painfully shy, oppressed Bridget.  The film primarily functions as a subtle but effective showcase for the two actresses.

               The film itself comes nowhere near the high bar set by its two stars........it bears all the dreary hallmarks of filmmakers who live only to impress film festival juries......deadened pacing, a moaning, minimal music score, overly artful shots that scream 'look at me! "I'm the director!"......an overall remote, academic dryness........

               This movie doesn't want an audience..........just accolades for the meticulous way it's put together.  You could flip through a newspaper while you're watching it and not miss much........

                 2 whacks of the ax for Sevigny and Stewart....(**)......and as usual, zero for everything else......