“If we’re going to kill our father, we should probably kill our mother too.”
In August 1989, siblings Lyle and Erik Menendez purchased shotguns and drove to the Beverly Hills mansion they shared with their parents. They fired several bullets through their parents’ hands, stomachs and feet before going outside to their car to reload. They continued shooting at their mother’s face to finish the job, triggering 16 shots between both of their parents.
They then attempted to catch a movie at a local theater before having dinner at a trendy Los Angeles-area restaurant where they knew they would be seen. The Menendez brothers, who come from entertainment backgrounds and are the sons of an immigrant father, initially claimed the Mafia had plotted to assassinate their family, but after their arrest they admitted to murdering their parents.
The new miniseries “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menéndez Story” recounts the events surrounding the Menendez murder and the brothers’ possible motives for killing José and Mary Louise “Kitty” Menéndez. Before the OJ Simpson trial captured the attention of households across the United States, the Menendez brothers became cultural icons due to the brutality of their crime and their testimony in court that they were sexually and physically abused by their father.
This series expands the Netflix anthology franchise from Ryan Murphy and frequent collaborator Ian Brennan, which began in 2022 with the deep dive into the mind of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. This second season takes aim at wealth, privilege, good looks and the consequences of abuse as seen through the protagonists of a huge live-action drama from the early 1990s. This latest season even draws a comparison, calling the Menendez brothers “Jeffrey Dahmer’s cousins.”
“Dahmer” was highly original in its execution and had a scare factor turned up to 11, but this second season, which centers on the Menendez brothers, feels exploitative and speculative. Dahmer’s intentions are well thought out and Evan Peters’ take on the character is transformative. Erik Menendez’s guilt may grow in “Monsters,” but the season drags as it explores theoretical motifs throughout.
But the project lives from its star cast. Actors Nicholas Chavez and Cooper Koch play Lyle and Erik Menendez, while Oscar winner Javier Bardem plays their father José and Chloë Sevigny takes on the role of Kitty.
But did the brothers murder their parents for financial gain? Or were their motives justified, claiming they feared for their lives after years of sexual abuse by their father and the subsequent abuse of Erik by his brother Lyle?
In “Monsters,” time jumps back and forth quite a bit as we learn more about the lives and complicated relationships of the Menendez family. In Episode 3, we’re introduced to the other characters who round out this true crime story: Erik Menendez’s criminal defense attorney Leslie Abramson (a fantastic Ari Graynor) and Vanity Fair journalist Dominick Dunne (Nathan Lane). Abramson is credited with bringing the sexual abuse defense in Erik’s first trial, when the brothers were separately charged with murder, as she had previously used a similar approach in another murder trial that she won.
Dunne, on the other hand, is well versed in murder trials and how wrong they can go after his daughter, actress Dominique Dunne, was brutally murdered and her killer was acquitted. Lane plays Dunne with dignity and fear, as he is often seen telling friends details about the Menéndez trial.
In the fifth episode, Erik’s graphic description of his father’s sexual abuse to his lawyer, Leslie Abramson, seems like one long scene, lasting for hours. It provides a strong motive for a murder committed as a result of ongoing abuse. Heartbreaking, emotional and downright manipulative, Murphy and Brennan present the murder with daring and salacious twists.
The same premise had been parodied years before the single season of “Law & Order True Crime,” starring Edie Falco as Abramson, was a movie of the week and was featured on “Saturday Night Live.” Turning the Menendez murder trial into a prestige Netflix series, Murphy and Brennan continue to dig for information about the brothers’ sexual proclivities, Erik’s alleged secrecy, their anger at both parents and the affluent lives they led on and off the court.
The series does a great job of reflecting on Lyle and Erik’s relationship without underplaying their guilt, even incorporating the 1994 Northridge earthquake. The crime in question is shown from the beginning – in great detail – and leads into a time when women from across America wrote love letters to the brothers in prison. Their eventual arrest, which is largely due to a therapist’s mistress (Murphy’s favorite Leslie Grossman) going public with information about the murder, recalls a time when beauty coupled with Beverly Hills privilege could mean getting away with it.
Nicholas Chavez is fierce and calculating in his role as the older Lyle Menendez, always driving the car while his brother chooses the passenger seat. Cooper Koch’s portrayal of the more sensitive Erik is equally disturbing, leaving the audience constantly questioning whether or not he is telling the truth. Graynor’s casting in this series, however, is legendary, taking a sly, permed Leslie Abramson and lending credence to the notion that abuse is at the heart of everything Erik does.
This season of the anthology series Monsters explores the theme of white panic, describing an era surrounding the Rodney King trial and white suburbanites’ fear of the unknown. Although the details are revealed and the brothers are eventually found guilty and sentenced to spend the rest of their lives in a California prison, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menéndez Story gives audiences reason to doubt the guilty verdict.
There is no denying that these two committed the crime, but their motives will always be questioned.
“Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menéndez Story” is now streaming on Netflix.
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