Lizzie (2018) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Lizzie kills Andrew and Abby Borden after years of oppressive control and abuse. The final triggers include learning her father's estate will go to Abby instead of her and Emma, witnessing Andrew sexually assault Bridget, and being forbidden from seeing Bridget after Andrew discovers their relationship. These accumulated injustices and the desperate desire for freedom lead Lizzie and Bridget to plan and execute the murders.

Foreshadowing: Earlier, Lizzie overhears her father discussing how his estate will pass to Abby, planting the seed of betrayal she feels.

• lizzie borden murders
• motivation
• freedom
• abuse
• Andrew Borden

Yes, Bridget actively participates in the murders. She helps stage the events by delivering a doctored telegram to bring Abby to her room, where Lizzie is waiting. Bridget is present in the house during both killings and assists with the aftermath, hiding the murder weapon in the basement and burning the blood-stained clothes. Their collaboration indicates a calculated act committed together.

Foreshadowing: The scene where Lizzie smashes the mirror and leaves glass at Bridget's door foreshadows their united response to danger.

• bridget sullivan
• lizzie borden
• murder plot
• collaboration

Multiple factors fuel Lizzie's transformation: her father's strict control over her life, discovering the estate will go to Abby rather than her and Emma, witnessing Andrew sexually assault Bridget, and being punished for the theft of Abby's jewelry by having her pet pigeons killed and served for dinner. Each betrayal erodes her loyalty until she sees murder as the only path to freedom.

Foreshadowing: Lizzie's theft of Abby's jewelry and subsequent punishment shows her willingness to defy her father despite severe consequences.

• andrew borden
• abuse
• betrayal
• motivation
• revenge

Lizzie burns Andrew's will the night before the murders after learning the estate would pass to Abby rather than to Lizzie and Emma. By destroying the will, she removes the legal document that would deny her inheritance, acting on her belief that she deserves a share of the family wealth. This act symbolizes her complete break from the family and her willingness to seize control through any means.

Foreshadowing: Lizzie's earlier discovery of the estate plan during the overheard conversation establishes her knowledge that the will works against her.

• will
• inheritance
• rebellion
• estate
• burning

After visiting Lizzie in jail, Bridget boards a train to Montana and asks Lizzie to end all contact. She spends the rest of her life in Montana, dying at age 82, far from the scandal and memory of Fall River. Their relationship effectively ends with Bridget choosing a new life away from the trauma of the murders and Lizzie's presence.

Foreshadowing: Earlier, Lizzie and Bridget exchange letters across the house, showing their desperate attempt to maintain connection despite being forbidden.

• bridget
• montana
• life after
• trial
• separation

Lizzie is ultimately acquitted at trial despite strong suspicion. The exact reasons are complex, she benefits from a closed trial, lack of direct physical evidence tying her to the murders, and possible jury bias. Her acquittal doesn't restore her social standing in Fall River, where she remains an outcast for the rest of her life despite being legally free.

Foreshadowing: Emma publicly swears her sister's innocence during the investigation, providing some familial support but not changing public perception.

• acquittal
• trial
• legal outcome
• fall river
• verdict

After Lizzie witnesses her father assaulting Bridget in the attic, she smashes a hand mirror in her bedroom and scatters the broken glass at Bridget's door. When Andrew leaves Bridget's room, he cuts his feet on the glass. The act represents Lizzie's first violent response to protect Bridget and her defiance of her father, marking her transformation from passive victim to active defender willing to use aggression.

Foreshadowing: The glass mirrors the hatchet that will later be used in the murders, Lizzie's escalating violence against those who threaten those she loves.

• mirror
• glass
• assault
• protection
• lizzie

Uncle John, the town constable, has been leaving threatening notes for Lizzie and confronts her after she challenges him about them. He assaults her in a scene that reveals another layer of predatory behavior within Lizzie's household. Bridget witnesses this assault, further exposing the pattern of men in positions of power abusing Lizzie and those around her.

Foreshadowing: Earlier, Uncle John is part of the conversation about the estate passing to Abby, showing his involvement in family matters and potential leverage over Lizzie.

• uncle john
• assault
• constable
• threats
• witness

The murders are meticulously planned. Bridget delivers a doctored telegram to bring Abby to her room, where Lizzie is hiding. Lizzie kills Abby while Bridget waits downstairs. When Andrew returns home, Lizzie lures him inside and kills him with the hatchet. They then kill a pigeon to test the weapon, hide it in the basement, and burn their blood-stained clothes. The flashback reveals a calculated operation rather than a spontaneous crime.

Foreshadowing: The burning of the will the night before demonstrates Lizzie's willingness to destroy family documents to protect herself.

• planning
• hatchet
• murder method
• telegram
• evidence

Despite being acquitted, Lizzie remains in Fall River for the rest of her life rather than fleeing the town. She lives as a social outcast, estranged from her sister Emma, and dies at age 66. The film suggests she either cannot leave or chooses not to, perhaps bound to the place where she committed the act that finally gave her freedom, or unable to escape the shadow of her infamy.

Foreshadowing: The film establishes that Fall River's community watches the Borden household closely, making escape emotionally complicated even after acquittal.

• fall river
• life after
• ostracized
• emma
• death

Andrew discovers Lizzie and Bridget having sex in the barn and brands their relationship an abomination. He forbids Lizzie from any further contact with Bridget and states his intention to fire Bridget from the household. This discovery represents the final public exposure of their secret romance and intensifies Lizzie's desperation to escape her father's control by any means necessary.

Foreshadowing: The earlier scene where Lizzie teaches Bridget to read and write, and they exchange secret letters, establishes the hidden nature of their relationship.

• andrew
• forbidden
• barn
• sex
• abomination

Bridget remains because she is an Irish immigrant with few economic options, she needs the job to survive. Additionally, after her mother dies in Ireland, she has no family to return to. Her vulnerability as an immigrant and servant with no support system makes her trapped in the abusive household, which is precisely why Lizzie feels compelled to protect her and eventually take drastic action.

Foreshadowing: The letter announcing her mother's death arrives just before the assault, deepening Bridget's isolation and dependence on the household.

• immigrant
• servant
• abuse
• trapped
• vulnerability