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Following the success of Dahmer, Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan are back with Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story. The series not only explores in detail the lives and crimes of the infamous Menendez brothers but also gives a peek into their backgrounds to ask the question of who the real monsters are.
The show made its debut today on Netflix and stars Nicholas Chavez and Cooper Koch as Lyle and Erik, the real-life brothers who, in 1996, were convicted of the brutal 1989 murders of their parents. The true-crime drama arrives two years after its first part and is already becoming a popular watch on the streaming platform owing to the expectations set by the first part.
The Netflix series is a nuanced take on the gruesome murder
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The Menendez brothers were convicted in 1996 for the 1989 murders of their parents, the multimillionaire couple, José and Kitty. The siblings had gunned them down while they were watching television at their Beverly Hills mansion. Following two high-profile trials, the first of which played out on live television, they were declared guilty and all of America was hooked to their story.
Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story introduces us to Lyle and Erik Menendez, played by Nicholas Alexander Chavez and Cooper Koch, who come off as obnoxious rich boys.
But what seems to just be bratty behavior from rich kids soon turns into something more as we get a glimpse of the darkness in them. When Erik, portrayed by Koch, is seen breaking down in his psychiatrist’s office and making a confession that will push the concept of doctor-client privilege to its limit, this darkness in them is revealed.
While in the real-life trial, prosecutors claimed that the brothers were motivated by money, the series explores in depth the psychological state of the two brothers, to bring to us the nuances of their behavior. Lyle and Erik had allegedly been victims of sexual, physical, and emotional abuse which Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story explores in further detail.
The series leans into the grey areas of the case, suggesting the possibility of some hidden motivations behind the heinous crime that the siblings committed. As such, Murphy does not just make a one-dimensional portrayal of the Menendez brothers as monsters but also examines the role that their parents may have played that shaped them into the people they had become.
Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story belongs to a unique genre of true crime which brings us gruesome stories not in the format of a documentary but in their dramatized versions. Moving away from the cold fact-oriented approach we see in investigative documentaries, this take has added more excitement and thrill to the series.
Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story: Who are the real monsters?
Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story gives a glimpse of the older Menéndez couple to show how the suppressed rage of the father who was prone to humiliating his sons, played its part in fleshing out the characters of the two brothers.
In one scene in the first episode, we even see Kitty brutally whipping a toupee from her son’s head, leaving him bald. Sequences like this, interspersed with dialogue about the police investigation, set the tone of the show, asking who the real monsters are.
Cooper Koch and Nicholas Chavez are equally brilliant on the show as Erik and Lyle Menendez respectively. The way they have portrayed being both victims and perpetrators is a testament to their talent.
Of course Javier Bardem and Chloë Sevigny in their roles as the older Menendez couple have put in unparalleled performances too. The scenes featuring all four actors are laden with electrifying tension and the anger of the two brothers becomes palpable throughout the series.
Read more: How accurate is Netflix’s Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story?
Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story is artful and dramatic but thankfully lacks the gruesome excesses of Dahmer. The series is indeed one of the best from Murphy to date and is a must-watch for all true-crime fans. It is currently streaming on Netflix.
