Aileen Wuornos, an American serial killer, was previously profiled in the 2003 movie Monster. While the story focused on Aileen Wuornos’ terrible crimes and her relationship with her real-life girlfriend, Tyria Moore, Charlize Theron expertly morphed into the character. Aileen Wuornos: American Boogeywoman, a 2021 movie starring Daniel Farrands that serves as a prequel to Monster (2003), depicts Aileen’s life after she escapes her homeland of Michigan and arrives in DeLand on July 4, 1976.
The story of Aileen, played by Peyton List, is told in the movie as she tells Peter, a reporter, what happened to her (Hamish Sturgeon). Aileen has just 24 hours before she is put to death, so her conversation with Peter is her final opportunity to be honest. But as usual, Aileen spins a tale full of made-up incidents in order to depict herself as some sort of vigilante who carried out justice by punishing her tormentors. The marriage, which lasted just nine weeks, and Aileen’s connection with millionaire Lewis Gratz Fell are the main subjects of the story. Let’s find out what all transpired throughout these 9 weeks as we carefully examine Aileen’s characteristics as a serial killer.
Aileen Wuornos: American Boogeywoman Plot Summary
Aileen Wuornos was raised on a montage of attractive female leads from Hollywood movies shot in black and white. Aileen has had an obsession with damsels who wield a destructive sword and control their own fate since she was a young girl. She was enthralled by their outrageous identities and yearned to share their fame one day.
Aileen was interviewed in prison by journalist Peter on October 8, 2002, the day before she was sentenced to death. Peter wants to document an aspect of Aileen’s life that hasn’t previously been documented on camera. Lewis Fell, better known as Commodore, the affluent yacht club president, is mentioned by Aileen as having formerly been in a relationship with her.
Aileen describes the events of July 4th, 1976, when she arrived in DeLand, Florida, barely making ends meet thanks to her prostitution on the streets. On a secluded beach in Volusia County that same evening, she makes a friend named Jennifer Jen Fell (Lydia Hearst). Jen drives Aileen or Lee to her residence, where she resides with her father, Lewis, a widower. Jen stays close to her father to care for him since Lewis’ wife passed away a year ago.
The following morning, Lee enters the hallway room while dressed in Lewis’ wife’s robe. Lewis is particularly taken with the girl and her amusing quips, and Aileen takes advantage of the situation for herself. Two weeks later, Jen finds Aileen in bed with Lee, and two weeks after that, they are married. Jen is certain that Aileen wants her father’s riches, but she lacks sufficient proof to back up her suspicions. The battle of Jen to reveal Aileen’s true identity and nature is further explored in the movie.
What Did Aileen Want?
Aileen was born into poverty, therefore her only goal in life was to become wealthy and well-known. She married affluent Lewis in order to defraud him of money. Victor D. Miller, a close friend and business advisor to Lewis, informed Jen that Aileen had added her signature as an authorised signer to all of Lewis’ personal accounts. She began stealing checks from Lewis’ study, cashing them to go out to the neighbourhood bars and buy herself luxuries.
Aileen thought she was a victim of fate even though she stole money like a con artist. She explained her heinous behaviour as a survival instinct to avoid her fate and move up the social scale, blaming her background and poverty for her horrible personality. Aileen hated wealthy ladies like Jennifer who were born with a silver spoon in their mouths because she identified as some sort of anarchist. She thought Jen and Grady were rich, pampered brats who lived comfortably off their father’s money throughout the movie, whereas Lee had neither money nor a father.
Into The Skin of Aileen Wuornos
As the events in Aileen Wuornos: American Boogeywoman are told from Lee’s perspective, Peter assumes that Wuornos is fabricating her account rather than revealing the truth. When Lee claimed that she had murdered her brother Keith in a Pink Flamingo Motel room, Peter discovered her lies. Keith possessed video proof that showed Lee killed Victor and his son Grady in Lewis Mansion and then dumped their remains. Lee claims that Keith tried to extort her and was slain as a result.
However, according to Peter, there is no proof that Keith was shot; instead, he passed away in Michigan from esophageal cancer. The truth about Lee’s deception was now in the open. Peter was given an explanation from Lee that she had first suffocated a person with a pillow who was already using an oxygen cylinder in order to survive. and fired at him. (What for? So as to verify the kill).
This fundamental flaw in Lee’s account of the events explains her fixation with presenting herself as the victim in every episode, which she then uses to defend her immoral behaviour. When Lee later started prostitution and killed 7 men, she testified in court that she had been attacked by the guys and had killed them out of self-defense.
Diane Pittman, Lee’s mother, revealed to Jen and Mitch Miller at the conclusion of the movie that Lee was a compulsive liar who suffered from paranoid delusions all the time. Some psychologists have also claimed that Lee’s terrible upbringing, including her early parental separation and maltreatment at the hands of her grandparents, contributed to her sociopathic tendencies and violent outbursts. In her hallucinatory state, Lee thought that these strong guys had attacked her, therefore she had killed them to protect herself. Because of this, every man in Lee’s tale was portrayed as a possible assailant or villain.
Lee imagined she was a damsel in distress throughout her life, but sadly, there was no knight in shining armour to save her. If one believes that her grandfather, a persistent alcoholic, genuinely took advantage of Lee. She then took up the sword (gun) herself and killed the men who took advantage of her.
Aileen Wuornos: American Boogeywoman Ending Explained
Lewis didn’t ask Lee about her origins or true identity because he took his surname literally and fell in love with her. Victor, a friend of Lewis, checked the suspicious woman’s history and discovered that she had been convicted of a crime and had already completed her time. Victor attempted to bribe and blackmail Lee with $10,000 without having any evidence, but she refused to go because she knew Lewis was worth more than $1 million. Lee claims that after Victor attacked her, she killed both him and his son Grady. She claimed to Peter that she had disposed of the body, which is why they were never discovered.
Jennifer chose to use these materials to expose Lee because she had been given a copy of the file. Diana Pittman, who managed a diner, was revealed to be Lee’s biological mother by Jen and Mitch. Diana revealed to Jen that she was extremely young when she fell pregnant with Lee and Keith. Leo Dale Pittman, their aggressive father, was found guilty of crimes against minors. Diana moved away from Lee and Keith’s grandparents at a young age to start her own life. From a young age, Lee struggled with feelings of abandonment, which contributed to her personality disorder and sociopathic tendencies.
At the conclusion of the movie, Lee took money from Lewis’s account and left DeLand. Lewis, however, transferred the funds from his accounts because Jen had already told her mother about Lee’s cunning plans. Lee attempted to kill Lewis by pushing him over the stairs after Lewis confronted him with the truth. Lewis was, however, spared by the arrival of Jen and Miller to the residence.
Lee attempted to drown Jen in the swimming pool in one of the show’s climactic scenes and kissed her as well, which suggested that they were attracted to people of the same gender and hinted at a possible long-term connection. Another theory is that Lee liked Jen, but that she never expressed any romantic interest in her.
Lee attempted to flee on Lewis’ yacht after being caught in the act, but Jen stopped her. Fortunately, Lewis arrived and protected his daughter as Lee pointed Lewis’ gun at Jen. The family thought Lee drowned when she fell into the sea, but the monster was born lucky. Somewhere in the St. Johns River, she washed ashore. Some fishermen discovered her and saved her life. She managed for a few months on the insurance money Keith gave her, but when it ran out, she returned to her previous position and began picking up clients along the Florida highway.
In the film’s climactic scene, it is revealed that one of Aileen’s former clients—whom she had earlier attacked—found her and had her teeth broken in retaliation. Lee explained to Peter that the dentist’s failure to correct her teeth led to her eerie smile. She was happy with it though because it gave her monstrous persona some personality.
After Lee had done, Peter made it clear to her that, other from her marriage to Lewis, all of the other details of her story were fabrications. Peter may have had reason to believe that Lee was obsessed with a mental image that she wished to use creatively. Fortunately or unfortunately, her medium evolved into her storytelling.
In the years between 1989 and 1990, Lee killed seven men after making her way out of DeLand. On October 9th, 2002, she was given the death penalty by lethal injection after being arrested for violent homicide.
Daniel Farrands is the author and director of the biopic drama film Aileen Wuornos: American Boogeywoman from 2021.
